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DIRECTING  STUDY 


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DIRECTING  STUDY 


EDUCATING  FOR  MASTERY  THROUGH 
CREATIVE  THINKING 


BY 
HARRY  LLOYD   MILLER 

Associate  Professor  of  Education,  Principal  Wisconsin  High  School 
University  of  Wisconsin 


CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

NEW  YORK  CHICAGO  BOSTON 


COPYSICHT,  1922.  BY 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 
C 


13 


PREFACE 

The  aim  of  this  book  is  to  direct  study  toward  mas- 
tery through  creative  thinking.  The  following  may 
be  looked  upon  as  major  aspects  of  the  discussion:  (i) 
to  present  various  illustrative  procedures;  (2)  to  pro- 
vide a  theory  and  a  plan  of  organization  of  classroom 
work  in  which  this  sense  of  mastery  and  power  may  be 
gained  by  students;  (3)  to  indicate  ways  of  dealing  with 
individuals  of  varying  achievements  in  the  same  group 
so  that  each  student  instead  of  the  class-group  becomes 
the  educative  unit;  (4)  to  suggest  shifts  in  emphasis 
from  the  traditionally  assigned  lesson  in  which  pupils 
are  asked  to  memorize  or  paraphrase  and  recite  pas- 
sively, to  directed  and  controlled  classroom  activity 
(study)  in  which  all  pupils  are  participating,  reacting 
agents  all  the  time,  and  are  moving  forward,  inspired  by 
the  challenge  of  problem-setting  situations;  (5)  to  move 
steadily  from  classified  groups  and  group-mediocrity  to 
individual  activity  and  the  co-operating  spirit;  (6)  to 
propose  as  a  guiding  idea  to  all  teachers  that  we  give 
boys  and  girls  things  to  do  in  the  doing  of  which  they 
will  find  out  what  we  would  like  to  have  them  know. 
It  is  becoming  increasingly  evident  that  incalculable 
sources  of  human  power  yet  untapped  await  liberation 
from  repressions  and  inhibitions  of  traditional  prac- 


vi  PREFACE 

tices,  and  that  we  can  confidently  look  for  a  new  day 
to  dawn  in  education  when  we  devise  ways  of  reward- 
ing students  not  for  having  brains  but  for  using  their 
brains. 

The  point  of  departure,  stated  in  the  most  recent 
categories,  is  the  proposition  that,  if  one  boy's  I.  Q. 
(Intelligence  Quotient)  is  8/10,  another  9/10,  another 
13/10,  then  it  is  the  problem  of  education  to  develop 
methods  that  will  insure  the  full  release  of  powers  in 
every  individual.  The  boy  with  an  index  of  9/10 
ought  to  be  induced  to  do  9/10  of  his  algebra,  language, 
science  (any  study)  with  a  real  mastery.  By  the  same 
token,  the  girl  with  an  index  of  13/10  should  be  re- 
warded for  a  corresponding  achievement  with  nothing 
short  of  13/10  of  her  algebra,  language,  science,  or  any 
other  study.  In  spite  of  any  assumptions  about  native 
capacity,  society  will  probably  continue  to  reward  the 
individual  who  uses  his  "talent,"  be  it  one,  two,  or 
five. 

I  have  had  especially  in  mind  upper-grade  and  high 
school  teaching  in  this  discussion.  Parents  who  par- 
ticipate so  generously  in  assisting  their  children  in 
getting  the  lessons  assigned  by  teachers  may  well  be 
interested.  The  improvement  of  teaching  is  held  to 
be  imperative  in  the  inspiriting  task  of  securing  ade- 
quate schooling  for  the  youth  of  the  nation.  While 
the  discussion  is  centred  about  the  problems  of  educa- 
tion in  the  Junior  and  Senior  High  School,  Normal 
Schools  and  Colleges  of  Education  will  no  doubt  be 
vitally  interested  in  the  issues  presented  and  discussed. 
Institutions  for  the  training  of  teachers  are  now  in  a 


PREFACE  vii 

strategic  position  to  direct  in  productive  ways  the 
movements  for  supervised  study,  co-operative  learn- 
ing, project- teaching,  measurements  of  education,  learn- 
ing for  mastery,  and  creativeness  in  thinking.  All 
these  movements  come  to  a  focus  in  the  habits  of  work 
which  boys  and  girls  are  developing. 

The  task  of  education,  as  I  see  it,  is  the  production  of 
a  people  capable  of  thinking,  and  with  a  mental  attitude 
which  is  tolerant,  fearlessly  honest,  expectant  of  change, 
and  creative.  We  need  a  mind  capable  of  analyzing 
problems  in  the  light  of  facts.  The  High  School  age  is 
full  of  possibilities  for  the  development  of  this  proposi- 
tion. In  fact,  if  curiosity  were  not  throttled,  this  view 
might  be  accepted  as  thoroughly  sound  in  every  stage 
of  education. 

We  make  the  individual.  Our  public  educational 
institutions  are  not  certifying  agencies,  maintained  to 
select  the  "called  and  chosen."  The  more  hopeful 
view  is  that  democratic  education  is  concerned  with 
the  production  of  desirable  changes  and  the  prevention 
of  undesirable  habits  in  all  individuals.  The  great 
teacher  is  the  one  able  to  stimulate  curiosity,  to  foster 
interest  in  the  search  for  knowledge,  and  to  develop 
enthusiasm  for  the  challenge  of  a  problem.  To  guide 
mental  life  is  the  supreme  work  of  the  real  teacher. 
Not  the  least  significant  factor  in  the  development  of 
a  new  general  method,  if  it  is  to  be  a  major  achieve- 
ment, will  be  the  removal  of  inhibitions  to  learning. 

To  a  very  large  number  of  my  colleagues  and 
other  good  teachers  who  have  assisted  me  in  working 
out  illustrative  procedures  and  in  developing  many 


viii  PREFACE 

phases  of  the  thesis  presented  in  this  book  I  am  under 
lasting  obligations.  To  Dr.  F.  M.  McMurry,  whose 
book,  "How  to  Study  and  Teaching  How  to  Study," 
has  been  a  constant  challenge  for  more  than  a  decade, 
I  am  indebted  in  a  very  direct  sense.  He  suggested 
thinking  periods,  as  a  substitute  for  recitation  periods. 
We  ought  to  be  prepared  now  for  the  change. 

H.  L.  M. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    A  Manual  of  Suggestive  Procedures  .     .  i 

II.    Administration  of  Directing  Study     .     ,  59 

III.    The  Learning  Process 90 

rv.    Organizing  Principles  and  Differentials  144 

V.    The  Development  of  the  Work  Spirit  173 

VI.    Application  of  the  Social  Principle     .     .  214 

VII.    Initiative  and  Authority 247 

VIII.    Successes  and  Failures  m  School  Work  .  281 

IX.    A  Shift  of  Emphasis 308 

Suggestive  Helps  and  Problems  for  Teach- 
ers EST  Using  This  Book 353 

Definition  and  Use  of  Terms      ....  367 

Index 373 


DIRECTING    STUDY 

CHAPTER  I 
A  MANUAL  OF  SUGGESTIVE  PROCEDURES 

Most  parents  send  their  children  to  school  in  the 
expectation  that  the  teacher  is  in  possession  of  some- 
thing which  is  to  be  passed  on  or  over  to  the  pupils. 
The  majority  of  students  attend  lectures  with  the 
same  notion,  and  go  to  books  to  get  what  the  author  has 
to  say.  The  emphasis  in  the  use  of  text-books  is  too 
often  along  these  same  lines  of  absorption  of  subject- 
matter.  School  architecture  betrays  a  philosophy  of 
education;  the  furniture  is  arranged  with  a  view  to 
instillation.  The  devotion  to  "learning"  as  the  ac- 
ceptance of  facts  is  remarkable  in  this  age  of  scientific 
questing.  The  learner  is  almost  universally  regarded 
as  a  recipient.  Communicated  facts,  all  along  the 
line — in  mere  telling,  in  reading  the  book,  in  listening 
to  explanation,  in  sitting  before  the  moving-picture — • 
constitute  the  essential  basis  of  "learning." 

In  the  proposed  procedure,  not  less,  but  vastly 
greater,  use  will  be  made  of  communicated  facts.  The 
situation  to  be  avoided  is  a  mass  of  unleavened  dough. 
What  we  need  to  do  is  to  see  to  it  that  the  salt  has  not 
lost  its  savor.  Enough  should  be  done  in  the  field  of 
self-discovered  facts  to  hold  in  solution  the  great  mass 
of  communicated  material;  enough  work  in  self-dis- 

1 


2  DIRECTING  STUDY 

covery  to  create  a  genuine  taste  for  analysis  and  to 
develop  appreciation  of  man's  task  in  building  our 
civilization. 

A  taught  me  mathematics  [or  any  other  thing  for  that]  too 
often  means  that  A  instilled  into  me  some  of  the  knowledge 
he  possessed,  that  he  inoculated  me  with  it.  Surely  that  is 
superficial  and  erroneous.  The  fundamental  truth  is  that  he 
put  me  en  rapport  with  mathematical  processes,  and  such 
success  as  was  attained  is  properly  described  as  my  adjustment 
to  this  quantitative  aspect  of  reality  and  that  of  it  to  me.  The 
adjustment  was  not  of  me  and  him,  but  of  me  and  this  depart- 
ment of  truth.  And  the  issue  is  vital.  For  we  all  know  that 
A  is  sometimes  so  imbued  with  the  conception  of  instillation 
that  he  is  a  positive  hindrance  to  adjustment,  well  meaning 
and  enthusiastic  though  he  may  be.* 

Montessori  has  made  an  invaluable  contribution  to 
procedure  for  creative  thinking.  The  child  is  brought 
into  vital  relations  with  his  problem.  The  form- 
board,  for  example,  is  the  subject-matter.  The  prisms 
and  cylinders  of  different  sizes  and  the  arrangement  of 
moulds  into  which  these  may  be  fitted  constitute  a 
major  part  of  the  controlled  environment.  The  child 
faces  his  problem  with  something  to  do.  If  he  places 
the  blocks  in  their  respective  moulds  without  difficulty, 
then  there  is  no  challenge  to  thinking.  Or,  to  put  it 
in  another  way,  if  there  is  no  ''fumbling  and  success," 
no  thinking  will  be  initiated.  With  Dewey,  mind  is 
the  instrument  by  which  we  overcome  obstacles  and 
thinking  takes  place  only  when  action  is  checked.  If  the 
child  comes  to  the  placement  of  the  last  block — 
prism  or  cylinder — and  finds  the  form  into  which  he 
tries  to  place  it  too  small,  he  is  at  once  confronted 
*  Adamson,  The  Individual  and  the  Environment,  p.  28. 


A  MANUAL  OF  SUGGESTIVE   PROCEDURES       3 

with  a  real  problem.  What  has  been  done  must  be 
reconsidered.  He  may  see  at  a  glance  that  some 
piece  has  been  placed  in  a  form  too  large  for  it;  he  may 
have  "to  throw  down  the  type,"  as  it  were,  and  start 
all  over,  not  once,  but  many  times.  In  this  situation 
the  business  of  the  teacher  is  to  watch  with  an  Emer- 
sonian respect. 

But  the  old  education  is  impatient  with  watching. 
The  teacher  or  the  book  steps  in  and  tells  the  child 
just  what  to  do,  or  actually  does  it  for  him.  The 
institutional  teacher  rearranges  the  pieces  on  the  child's 
form-board  and  shows  the  child  how  easy  it  is  (for  him 
— the  schoolmaster).  As  hopefully  expect  the  child  to 
learn  to  lace  his  own  shoes  by  doing  it  for  him  everlast- 
ingly, as  to  expect  mastery  and  creative  thinking  as  a 
positive  outcome  of  our  conventional  practices.  Even 
the  questions  (so-called) ,  intended  to  guide  the  pupil  in 
a  learning  situation,  are  so  framed  as  to  disclose  the 
answers,  thereby  destroying  the  basis  for  creative  think- 
ing. 

The  exponents  of  efficiency  in  education  will  urge 
the  necessity  of  economy  and  "results."  It  will  be 
shown  that  we  do  not  have  time  to  wait  on  the  child's 
procedure  of  "fumbling  and  success."  Perhaps  all 
we  need  to  say  in  this  connection  now  is  to  suggest 
that  any  move  on  the  part  of  a  teacher  in  the  pupil's 
dilemma  in  a  learning  situation  should  not  check- 
mate the  pupil.  In  the  interests  of  economy  a  par- 
ticular stumbling-block  may  be  removed.  The  aim 
should  be  to  assist  the  learner  to  further  effort  in  the 
solution  of  his  problem.  We  shall  attempt  to  indicate 
in  these  illustrative  procedures  that  where  there  is  no 
problem  there  is  no  thinking. 


4  DIRECTING  STUDY 

For  the  past  five  years  a  class  in  Plant  Life  (gth  and 
loth  grade  Agriculture)  in  the  University  of  Wisconsin 
High  School  has  been  conducted  under  geared-up 
Montessori  principles  and  in  accord  with  the  procedure 
suggested  in  Exercise  I,  page  6.  The  materials  of  the 
course  were  set  out  in  concrete  forms  and  the  question 
as  a  factor  of  control  was  used  with  rare  skill. 

In  every  subject  the  materials  of  instruction  should 
be  so  fabricated  as  to  enable  the  pupil  to  check  up  his 
thinking.  The  objective  means  of  checking  up  one's 
work  will  not  be  so  evident  in  all  subject-matter  as  is  the 
case  in  the  form-board;  yet  there  are  unrealized  possi- 
bilities of  organization  of  both  subject-matter  and 
procedure  to  this  end.  Much  of  the  lack  of  intelli- 
gence in  school  and  college  is  due  to  lack  of  necessity 
for  rigid  intellectual  discipline  and  a  definite  responsi- 
bility for  whatever  thinking  goes  on.  The  professions 
of  education  and  medicine  may  yield  to  the  profession 
of  engineering  in  the  following  vivid  and  rather  severe, 
perhaps  unfair,  contrast: 

Fortunately  for  us,  most  diseases  are  self-eliminating.  But 
it  is  natural  for  the  physician  to  turn  this  dispensation  of  nature 
to  his  adrantage  and  to  intimate  that  he  has  cured  John  Smith, 
when  actually  Nature  has  done  the  trick.  On  the  contrary, 
should  John  Smith  die,  the  good  doctor  can  assume  a  pious 
expression  and  suggest  that,  despite  his  own  incredible  skill 
and  tremendous  effort,  it  was  God's  (or  Nature's)  will  that 
John  should  pass  beyond.  Now  the  engineer  is  open  to  no  such 
temptation.  He  builds  a  bridge  or  erects  a  building,  and  dis- 
aster is  sure  to  follow  any  misstep  in  calculation  or  fault  of 
construction.  Should  such  a  calamity  occur,  he  is  presently 
discredited  and  disappears  from  view.  Thus  he  is  held  up  to 
a  high  mark  of  intellectual  rigor  and  discipline  that  is  utterly 
unknown  in  the  world  the  doctor  [or  the  teacher]  inhabits. 
{Civilization  in  the  United  States,  p.  455.) 


A  MANUAL  OF  SUGGESTIVE  PROCEDURES       5 

It  is  maintained  that  engineers  head  the  list  in  in- 
telligence, being  rated  60  per  cent  higher  than  doctors. 
The  rating  of  doctors  above  (or  below)  teachers  is  not 
disclosed,  nor  is  it  to  be  assumed  that  the  work  of 
teachers  can  be  checked  up  with  such  exactness  as 
that  of  the  engineer.  Nevertheless,  the  position  is 
maintained  that  the  profession  of  teaching  may  be 
made  a  challenge  to  intellectual  rigor  and  discipline 
comparable  to  the  challenge  that  comes  to  the  engi- 
neer. This  high  groimd  is  not  to  be  reached  by  me- 
chanical methods,  by  dismissing  John  Smith  from  the 
class  or  school,  by  burying  curiosity  alive,  nor  by  any 
presuppositions  about  God's  (or  Nature's)  wiU  to  the 
effect  that  John  can't  learn  it.  With  the  engineer  we 
need  to  cultivate  the  courage  and  develop  the  tech- 
nic  to  build  bridges  in  the  face  of  self-created  obstacles. 

It  is  perfectly  possible  to  become  so  obsessed  by  the 
instrimients  of  education  as  to  inhibit  vital  learning. 
The  specialist  and  the  j^dant  are  both  open  to  this 
danger.  The  former  tends  to  lead  the  pupil  who  is  not 
so  tall  as  a  rule  into  the  narrow  channel  of  speciali- 
zation or  within  high  protective  tariff  (pedagogical) 
boundaries,  and  too  often  suffocates  him  among  the 
dust  of  detail,  for  the  specialist  is  still  able  to  see  be- 
yond the  narrow  margins  of  detail  and  catch  some- 
thing of  the  meaning  of  making  the  detail  a  witness 
to  a  great  and  universal  significance.  The  pedant,  on 
the  other  hand,  too  often  superimposes  subject-matter, 
method,  problem,  "project,"  leaving  the  pupil  an  ever- 
lasting minor.  All  of  this  is  a  disregard  of  the  demo- 
cratic ideal  in  procedure.  The  consent  of  the  governed 
is  denied.  We  want  to  indicate  in  these  suggestive 
procedures  a  life  basis,  a  plan  of  participation,  a  means 


6  DIRECTING   STUDY 

of  a  shared  life,  a  kind  of  mutuality  in  which  the  pupil 
becomes  a  partner  in  a  developing  subject  and  in  a 
self-realizing,  self-originating  plan.  The  hope  is  that 
even  greater  levy  on  facts,  information,  and  data  (ac- 
credited subject-matter)  will  be  made  than  is  possible 
in  the  recitation  system  or  the  lecture  method. 

Many  suggestions  in  directing  procedure  for  creative 
thinking  have  been  incorporated  in  the  discussion. 
The  reader  may  loop  them  up  in  this  connection  as  he 
chooses. 


For  point  of  departure.  (This  exercise  is  of  inesti- 
mable value  for  all  teachers,  including  parents,  from 
the  kindergarten  to  the  graduate  school.)  The  build- 
ing (creation)  of  any  story  will  serve  the  purpose  here. 
.  The  aim  is  to  furnish  the  mind  with  something  to  work 
on  with  a  real  question  in  front  of  some  potential  answer. 

Bill  (seven  or  eight  years  of  age).  "One  time  there 
was  a  man  left  on  an  island  all  alone."  (More  data 
may  be  furnished  if  the  experiment  calls  for  further 
facts,  such  as:  in  this  man's  home  there  was  a  picture 
of  a  ship,  or  this  man's  father  was  a  captain,  etc.) 
Now,  raise  the  question.  "How  did  this  man  come  to 
be  left  on  the  island?"     Bill  will  find  a  solution. 

Bear  in  mind,  the  old  education  would  have  the 
learner  read  the  story  and  reproduce  it,  or  the  learner 
would  be  told  the  story  (answer)  and  asked  to  repeat 
it.  In  the  quest  for  creative  thinking  the  child  works 
out  his  own  story,  recreates  the  story  within  a  con- 
trolled environment.  The  new  teacher  furnishes  the 
mind  with  something  to  think  with. 

Bill  (further  on  in  the  challenge).     "One  day  your 


A  MANUAL  OF  SUGGESTIVE  PROCEDURES       7 

Robinson  Crusoe  got  sick.  What  could  you  do  in  your 
own  home  that  your  Robinson  Crusoe  could  not  do? 
What  would  your  Robinson  Crusoe  do?"  Bill  will 
work  it  out. 

The  text  of  Defoe's  Robinson  Crusoe  may  be  used 
after  raising  productive  questions  in  the  minds  of  our 
boys  and  girls.  The  teacher  knows  the  standard  story. 
His  task  is  to  think  it  in  terms  of  challenges,  and 
then  to  set  forth  data  which  will  stimulate  curiosity, 
and  cunningly  put  a  question  which  the  data  suggest. 
All  of  the  text  material  may  be  aligned  ("covered") 
in  this  procedure  after  the  challenging  questions  are 
raised,  and  the  creative  genius  of  the  boys  and  girls  is 
given  a  chance  to  express  itself. 

The  leit-motif  of  all  history  is  suggested  in  this  plan 
of  approach.  The  time  may  come  when  history  up 
through  the  high  school  will  be  studied  with  a  view  to 
building  minds  capable  of  analyzing  problems  in  the 
light  of  facts. 

n 

Social  Studies  and  Science 

For  any  year  of  the  junior  or  senior  high  school.  (The 
college  needs  it.)  Data.  Radio  work.  Wave-lengths 
(bands)  in  the  air.  Broadcasting  news.  A  committee 
of  radio  experts  of  many  nations  sitting  in  Paris. 
The  experts  proposed  that  specific  wave-lengths  of  high 
frequency  be  allocated  (assigned)  to  each  nation. 

Questions. — Why?  Any  bearing  on  a  League  of 
Nations  ? 

Procedure. — Pupils  (including  girls)  do  not  need  to 
be  assigned  readings  in  order  to  answer  intelligently 


S  DIRECTING  STUDY 

these  questions.  They  may  be  presented  the  data  and 
at  once  try  their  wings  on  the  questions.  First,  dis- 
cussion in  terms  of  experience  and  broadcasted  knowledge 
among  youngsters  to-day  and  then  readings  followed 
by  a  productively  written  chapter  on  "The  Relation 
of  Science  to  Modern  Life,"  or  "The  Development 
of  Radio." 

This  experiment  was  carried  out  in  a  large  class  of 
loth-grade  pupils  and  incidentally  tried  out  on  a  half- 
dozen  college  seniors  (men) .  The  latter  failed  ignomini- 
ously.  They  appeared  dazed.  They  had  been  cor- 
rupted to  the  very  roots  under  the  doctrine  of  "learn- 
ing" as  the  acceptance  of  facts,  and  before  the  data 
and  questions  they  appeared  helpless.  They  could 
have  taken  notes  on  a  lecture  or  read  assignments,  and 
they  could,  no  doubt,  have  reproduced  and  recited  with 
rare  brilliancy.  The  boys  and  girls  were  alert  to  the 
questions  in  the  light  of  the  data  presented.  One  little 
girl  said:  "The  nations  will  have  to  agree  on  a  distribu- 
tion of  wave-lengths,  or  else  all  news  will  be  broad- 
casted, and  then  there  would  be  no  secrets.  Nations 
would  have  to  behave."  A  boy  said:  "The  fact  of 
getting  together  and  agreeing  to  assign  each  nation 
a  particular  set  of  wave-lengths  would  mean  unity." 
Another  with  a  free  mind  at  work  said:  "Each  govern- 
ment would  have  a  machine  tuned  for  each  nation  and 
would  catch  any  messages  sent  from  one  to  another, 
but  the  governments  would  agree  not  to  broadcast 
each  other's  private  affairs,"  etc.  (The  discussion 
would  have  been  illuminating  to  our  statesmen.) 


A  MANUAL  OF  SUGGESTIVE  PROCEDURES 


III 

For  Any  Grade  above  7th  and  below  the  17TH 

For  "substance  of  doctrine"  as  well  as  a  realizable 
procedure  in  any  school. 

Problem  (or  challenge). — The  development  of  a  scientific 
{experimental)  attitude.  Data.  Two  characters  repre- 
senting : 


(a)  The  "Old  World" 
Key.     "Old  World"  is  closed. 

Things  are  fixed. 
"Nobody  ever  did  it,  there- 
fore it  can't  be  done." 


{h)  The  "New  World" 
"New    World"    is    open,    ex- 
pectant of  change,  crea- 
tive. 
"So  he  buckled  in  with  a  bit 
of  a  grin  at  what  coxild  not 
be  done,  and  he  did  it." 
(In  this  experiment  a  pupil 
in  the  class  found  a  poem  and 
boiled  it  down  to  this.     He  was 
stimulated  by  the  Old  World 
motto.) 
Procedure. 

(a)  Now  let  Aristotle  and  Sophocles  debate  with 
Burbank  and  Edison.  (St.  Augustine  and  Luther 
might  be  induced  to  debate  with  Bacon  and  Darwin. 
A  dramatized  debate  for  adolescents  is  usually  a  spirited 
event  and  elicits  the  best  in  the  debaters.)  The  pupils 
(loth  grade  or  later)  will  be  able  to  write  (create)  a 
play  in  which  these  men  are  the  leading  characters. 
They  may  summon  other  characters  to  speak.  This 
was  done.  The  "New  World"  may  have  a  slave  out 
of  the  Old  World  to  portray  his  life;  a  woman  may  also 
be  summoned  to  relate  her  lot.  One  girl  in  working 
up  such  a  play  proposed  that  she  be  a  fairy  and  have  the 
boy  of  the  class  interested  in  science  become  a  wizard. 


10 


DIRECTING  STUDY 


(The  fairy  played  the  part  of  "Looking  Backward" 
from  1950.  The  play  as  well  as  the  debate  has  proved 
valuable  and  interesting.) 

An  enormous  amount  of  "accredited"  subject-matter 
can  be  looped  up  in  both  the  production  of  the  debate 
and  the  creation  of  the  play. 


(b)  Data  for  another  part  of 
the  challenge 

The  "Old  World"  says: 

"The  acorn  can  grow  only  into 
the  oak." 

"Wild  oats  can  grow  only  into 
wild  oats." 

"The  boy  grows  up  into  the 
man,  and  the  boy  can 
become  only  what  his 
heredity  makes  him." 


(c)  Data  (once  more) 
The  genius  is  born,  not  made, 
says  the  "Old  World." 
Talent  is  donated.  Hence 
there  must  always  be 
"those  who"  can  and 
"those  who"  can't  do  it. 


The  "New  World"  answers: 
"New  species  can  be  developed 
by  man."     Burbank  tells 
us    a    lot    of    interesting 
things. 
(The  pupils  work  this  out.) 
Mr.  Edison,  what  is  your  an- 
swer to  the  "Old  World" 
here,  when   "they  say": 
"We    have    always    had 
candles  and  they  make  the 
best  light  ever"? 
(Let  the  pupils  work  all  this 
out.    It  can  be  done  in  dis- 
cussion, through  reading  and 
discussion,    through   film   and 
written  reactions,  through  de- 
bate, through  dramatic  repre- 
sentation,  through   writing   a 
chapter    in    a    creative    book 
made    by    the    pupils    them- 
selves.) 


going 


How  is  the  "New  World' 
to  answer  now? 
(Any  live  class  will  be  ready 

for  a  thrilling  debate.     If  so, 

let  it  be  negotiated.) 

Do  we  make  the  individual  in 
the  "New  World"?  How? 

What  is  the  purpose  of  educa- 
tion ? 


A  MANUAL  OF   SUGGESTIVE  PROCEDURES     11 


{d)  Do  you  think  the  "Old 
World"  has  a  name-and- 
date  period? 


(e)  The  "Old  World"  says: 
"We  have  always  had 
war  and  we  always  will." 

Are  arts,  science,  music,  archi- 
tecture, literature  nation- 
ally bounded  any  longer? 


Do  you  think  there  are  any 
"folks"  living  in  the  20th 
century  who  really  have 
minds  and  entertain  ideas 
belonging  to  the  5th,  14th, 
or  lyth  century? 

What  is  the  "New  World's" 
answer  ? 

(A  good  time  to  examine  the 
history  of  international  agree- 
ments and  co-operations  in 
exhibitions,  congresses,  Postal 
Union,  Red  Cross  work,  and 
League  of  Nations.) 


(/)  For  pupils  in  the  senior  high  school  (and  the 
college)  the  possibilities  and  unifying  effects  of  inter- 
national insurance  and  the  world-wide  extension  and 
application  of  the  Federal  Reserve  Bank  may  be  dis- 
cussed and  worked  up  into  original  (creative)  chapters. 
It  is  wholly  superfluous  to  add  that  an  inj&nitely  greater 
amount  of  information  will  be  required  in  this  problem- 
procedure  than  is  possible  under  the  cut-and-dried 
lecture  system  and  lesson-assigning,  lesson-hearing 
school  where  all  march  in  regimental  uniformity. 

The  time  to  be  allotted  to  this  exercise  (III)  is 
left  to  the  discretion  of  the  school  and  its  new  teacher. 
There  is  easily  a  whole  semester's  work  suggested  here 
for  a  class  in  Social  Science.  Many  transmissions  ahead 
are  possible  in  problems  of  this  kind.  One  week  spent 
in  experimental  guesting  along  lines  suggested  in  this 
exercise  has  proved  a  profitable  venture,  not  only  in 
senior  high-school  science  and  social  studies,  but  also 
for  students  (college  seniors)  preparing  to  teach.     In 


12  DIRECTING  STUDY 

any  case  it  is  well  to  have  the  students  construct  a 
chapter  on  some  such  topic  as  the  "Development  of 
Modern  Science." 

IV 

For  6th  or  7th  Grade 

Challenge. — The  fraction  operating  in  the  equation. 
(One  of  a  few  outstanding  principles  to  be  mastered.) 

Exercise. — %,  or  %,  or  ?(,  or  ^3,  or  Xi,  or  K,  or  %,  or  2%  of 
my  money  is  $100.     How  much  have  I  in  each  case  ? 

Procedure. — (Intended  to  clarify  the  principle  in- 
volved.) 

Working  Materials. — (If  the  first  day  of  school,  let 
the  teacher  be  provided  with  a  pocketful  of  pencils 
and  plenty  of  scratch  paper  prepared  to  start  work 
at  once;  keep  every  youngster  so  busy  that  no  time  is 
available  for  "fooling.") 

If  four  dogs  cost  $100,  what  will  five  dogs  cost? 
(Work  it  out  orally,  finding  cost  of  one  dog  first  and 
then  five  dogs.) 

Now  express  it  thus: 

T^=  $100 
dogs 

~ —  =  —  of  $100  =  $25 
dog       4 

Again,  li  four-fifths  of  my  money,  etc.,  i.  e.,  substi- 
tute fifths  for  dogs.  (Subsequently  substitute  for  dogs 
(the  denominator)  thirds^  sevenths,  thirteenths,  elevenths, 
half,  halves,  sixths.) 


A   MANUAL  OF  SUGGESTIVE  PROCEDURES     13 
Now  express  it  thus: 


4 


fifths 


(of  my  m.)  =  $icx3 


— — -  (of  my  m.)  must  equal  (  ?) 
fifth 


Finally  express  it: 


—  (of  my  m.)  =  $ioo 


—  (of  my  m.)  =  ( ?) 
^  (of  my  m.)  =  (?) 


5 

(There  will  be  need  of  clarifying  the  idea  of  unity.) 

Above  all,  see  to  it  that  dogs  and  fifths  are  denomi- 
nators. (Teachers,  I  pray  you,  dwell  on  the  meaning 
of  denominator.) 

Before  using  the  exercises  in  the  book  the  pupils 
should  make  up  their  own  exercises  for  two  or  three 
days,  using  aU  sorts  of  imagery  in  the  denominators 
employed. 

Swinging  out  into  a  new  challenge  with  a  clearing 
up  of  the  fundamental  principle  involved,  using  simple, 
vivid,  illustrative  material  to  exemplify  the  principle, 
ought  to  bring  pupils  into  a  better  and  a  more  abiding 
understanding  of  mathematical  reality  than  is  exhibited 
in  the  endless  working  of  sets  of  "problems"  by  formu- 
las, or  ready-made  patterns. 


Challenge. — A  set  of  exercises  in  arithmetic,  algebra,  a  foreign 
language,  or  any  other  subject  in  which  a  number  of  exercises 
in  some  organizing  principle  is  clearly  presented.     To  illustrate: 


14  DIRECTING   STUDY 

Factoring  in  algebra  (8th  or  9th  grade)  is  the  unifying  core  of 
a  part  of  the  course.  After  five  minutes  of  general  explanation 
of  a  new  phase  of  factoring  in  which  the  whole  class  participated, 
each  pupil  started  into  the  set  of  exercises  and  worked  as  rapidly 
as  possible.  The  teacher  checked  results,  guided  procedures, 
explained  to  any  one  pupil  or  group  of  pupils  some  principle 
needing  further  elucidation,  called  the  whole  class  to  concerted 
attention  when  any  fundamental  concept  could  be  focussed 
up)on  economically.  The  exercises  in  this  illustration  involved 
the  differences  of  squares.  Some  60  exercises  were  listed.  In 
the  course  of  the  remainder  of  the  class  period  the  number  of 
exercises  mastered  ranged  from  10  to  55.  No  upper  limit  was 
set.  Each  pupil  worked  forward  in  the  challenge  at  his  own  best 
rate. 

In  a  class  in  geometry,  36  pupils  all  started  at  the  beginning 
of  a  70-minute  class  period  on  a  set  of  19  original  exercises  listed 
at  the  close  of  the  book  on  the  circle  (Wells  and  Hart).  The 
pupils  worked  in  pairs  at  the  board.  Their  work  was  checked 
as  rapidly  as  enough  proof  was  given  to  indicate  mastery. 
Five  pupils  who  began  10  minutes  before  the  class  period  for- 
mally began  completed  the  entire  set  during  the  class  period. 
The  range  was  all  the  way  from  a  mastery  of  3  exercises  to  19 
exercises.  The  teacher  was  kept  busy  checking  results  and 
suggesting  modes  of  attack  to  pupils  in  difficulty.  The  two 
boys  who  finished  the  entire  set  15  minutes  before  the  period 
was  up  assisted  the  teacher  in  this  work. 

The  same  procedure  may  be  employed  in  word  study,  work 
on  sentences,  reading  of  literature  of  a  type  or  period,  composi- 
tion, exercises  in  foreign  language,  etc. 

Two  important  matters  should  be  mentioned  in  this  connec- 
tion: (i)  The  organizing  principle  should  be  clear.  (2)  No 
upper  limit  shoidd  be  set  in  the  number  of  exercises.  Enough 
work  should  be  at  hand  to  challenge  every  ability  in  the  class 
group.  It  is  not  a  uniformity  that  is  sought  in  true  education. 
The  unity  (not  uniformity)  is  gained  by  all  those  co-operations 
which  evolve  out  of  a  challenge  clearly  distinguished  as  to 
some  organizing  principles  and  a  progressive  series  of  exercises 
within  the  gripping  principles. 


A  MANUAL  OF  SUGGESTIVE   PROCEDURES     15 


VI 

lOTH  Grade  (Mathematics:  Core — Demonstrative 
Geometry) 

Challenge. — The  Circle.  (The  material,  the  best  modern 
texts — Book  II.) 

Procedure. — (The  procedure  in  this  illustration  is  based  upon 
the  work  of  a  class  of  thirty-eight  pupils  of  very  wide  ranges  of 
** capacity"  and  achievement.  In  fact,  a  conspicuous  minority 
of  this  class  had  been  tried  and  found  wanting — pronounced 
to  be,  if  not  "mathematical  idiots,"  at  least  mathematically 
disinclined  or  obsessed  by  defense  mechanisms.  One  purpKjse 
in  the  experiment  was  the  attempt  to  demonstrate  the  feasi- 
bility of  managing  a  large  section  with  extremes  of  "ability" 
and  attainment,  well  known  at  the  outset.) 

(c)  When  the  challenge  was  entered  upon,  a  word  was  men- 
tioned about  the  assignment.  The  assignment  was  the  circle. 
For  a  period  of  five  or  six  weeks  nothing  was  said  about  assign- 
ment. No  daily  assignment  was  mentioned.  The  individual 
pupils  who  needed  stimulus  were  operated  on  as  they  needed  it. 

(6)  The  class  period  (70  minutes)  was  developed  into  a  work 
period.  This  class  period  has  never  proved  too  long — always 
too  short.  Work  begun  in  class  was  continued  out  of  class 
largely  upon  the  initiative  of  the  pupils.  Saturday  mornings 
were  employed  for  clinic  purposes  for  any  pupUs  who  for  any 
reason  (absence  mainly)  did  not  make  satisfactory  progress. 
Four  hours  on  the  job,  steady,  makes  a  diflference  in  any  strug- 
gling pupil.     (See  Chapter  II,  p.  71.) 

(c)  The  challenge  (the  circle)  is  the  organizing  principle, 
and  the  exercises  and  propositions  furnish  the  differentials. 
(See  Chapter  IV.)  The  big  challenge  was  broken  up  into  four 
or  five  major  organizing  principles  around  which  and  with  which 
discussion  could  be  carried  on  in  a  profitable  manner.  Recita- 
tion work,  as  we  ordinarily  find  it,  was  deleted. 

The  following  organizing  means  were  employed  as  principles 
to  think  with: 

1.  A  radius  perpendicular  to  a  chord. 

2.  A  radius  drawn  to  a  tangent  at  point  of  contact. 


16  DIRECTING   STUDY 

3.  Measuring  angles.     Angles  measured  by  the  same  number 

of  arc  degrees. 

4.  Parallels  intercepting  equal  arcs. 

5.  Loci  problems — a  few  clarifying  principles. 

These,  or  some  aspects  of  them,  were  written  on  the  board 
from  time  to  time  to  guide  the  thinking  of  the  pupils. 

(d)  No  effort  was  made  to  keep  the  class  together.  Goal 
ends  were  mentioned  from  time  to  time.  "  Now,  don't  you  think 
we  had  better  be  prepared  to  discuss  measuring  angles  next 
Monday?"  Or,  "Would  it  not  be  a  good  idea  for  you  to  have 
mastered  our  challenge  by  next  Saturday  night  before  10  o'clock, 
so  that  we  can  all  start  on  loci  problems  one  week  from  to-day?" 
No  two  pupils  were  ever  found  at  the  same  place  in  any  part  of 
the  challenge.  Responsibility  was  sought  in  many  ways.  The 
great  majority  of  pupils  in  a  working  laboratory  do  not  need  to 
be  prodded  and  supported  in  their  work.  After  working  into 
some  part  of  the  challenge,  after  mastering  some  of  the  work- 
ing tools,  and  after  learning  the  game,  as  it  were,  by  individual 
guidance  and  checking  of  results,  the  whole  class  enter  into 
vigorous  discussion  and  snappy  response  to  rapid-fire  questions. 

The  aim  in  this  work  procedure  is  to  bring  the  whole  class  to  a 
concerted  "attention"  only  when  some  organizing  principle  can 
be  economically  cleared  up  for  all  members  of  the  class  by  a 
single  drive,  or  when  enough  work  has  been  accomplished  in  a 
given  part  of  the  big  challenge  to  make  a  class  discussion  profita- 
ble for  (practically)  every  member  of  the  class,  because  every 
one  has  actually  turned  out  some  work  of  his  own  in  the  part  of 
the  challenge  under  discussion,  or  (concerted  attention)  when  the 
aim  is  grippyed  up  in  the  contest  or  game  spirit,  wherein  it  be- 
comes a  matter  of  vigorous  rivalry  among  individuals  or  between 
groups  in  which  true  sportsmanship  sweetens  the  competition 
of  life. 

(c)  In  the  procedure  individual  achievement  is  focal.  Out  of 
individual  activity  class  co-operations  are  developed.  Partner- 
ship teaching  is  employed.  There  must  be  no  lesion  of  the 
social  sense  in  this  drive  for  individual  mastery  and  responsi- 
bility. For  one  very  important  type  of  teacher-activity  in  this 
work  period,  the  reader  is  directed  to  Chapter  IV,  p.  i2o_^.  It 
win  be  recalled  that  the  teacher  is  now  a  directing  genius,  never 
sitting  apart  engaged  in  any  sort  of  busy  aimlessness,  such  as 


A  MANUAL  OF  SUGGESTIVE   PROCEDURES     17 

occupying  the  furtive  pulpit  in  a  supervisory  capacity,  correct- 
ing papers,  visiting  somebody  who  comes  to  "see"  the  imponder- 
ables. The  new  teacher  is  first  of  all  master  in  the  challenge, 
ready  to  give  a  hint  in  any  part  of  it.  For  some  pupils  wiU  be 
plunging  ahead;  others  will  bring  in  new  material.  A  live  class 
will  require  a  teacher  alert  in  many  directions. 

Referring  again  to  Chapter  III,  let  us  examine  the  teacher's 
task  at  the  point  of  the  learner's  real  diflBculty.  This  is  no  cram- 
ming, memorizing  school  now.  We  are  not  interested  in  de- 
veloping the  mirror-minded  pupil.  That  can  be  done.  Tens  of 
thousands  of  pupils  have  absorbed  enough  geometry  to  pass  it. 
They  have  pursued  it  with  no  confident  hope  of  overtaking  it. 

The  habit  of  writing  on  a  pad  just  what  the  consulting  expert 
(the  new  teacher)  says  to  each  pupil  (or  group  of  pupils — two 
or  more)  at  the  fork  of  the  road  in  the  dilemma  which  each  pupil 
sets  forth — that  habit  is  stressed  because  we  feel  sure  that 
teachers  talk  too  much.     They  have  so  much  to  impart ! 

"  What  are  your  data  ?     State  each  point  in  your  hypothesis." 

"Draw  your  figxire  with  your  instruments." 

"Trace  the  angle  with  your  finger  as  you  read  it." 

"Where  is  the  vertex  of  an  inscribed  angle?" 

"Express  the  arc  degrees.     360 — arc  AC.     Now  try  it." 

"Make  sure  of  your  proposition  here." 

"Which  way  do  you  think  the  author  intended  to  solve  this 
one?" 

"Look  at  the  board.     Angles  are  equal  if " 

"You  need  a  plan,  don't  you?" 

"Have  you  examined  all  the  facts  in  your  hypothesis?" 

"Oh,  but  is  that  a  central  angle?" 

"Talk  to  your  figure." 

"Have  you  used  all  your  hypothesis?" 

There  is  no  end  to  this  kind  of  personal,  intimate  suggestion 
with  a  group  of  pupils  at  work  in  a  challenge  with  no  upper 
limit  for  any  one.  These  directing  hints  are  given  to  the  pupil 
in  his  puzzled  state,  to  two  or  more  pupils  working  at  the  board 
together,  to  the  whole  class  now  and  again. 

The  highest  achievement  is  to  develop  minds  capable  of  analyzing 
problems  in  the  light  of  facts.  This  procedure  is  aimed  at  that 
goal  in  every  stage  of  its  development. 

Work  is  done  in  note-books  and  checked.     Not  all  exercises 


18  DIRECTING  STUDY 

are  written  out  in  full  by  every  pupil.  Some  work  is  checked 
from  the  blackboard.  Oral  explanation  is  accepted  in  many 
instances.  Often  a  clear-headed  pupil  may  simply  schematize 
the  proof  for  the  teacher.  Pupils  rising  to  their  mathematical 
heritage  "as  if  to  the  manner  born"  (always  by  hard  work, 
for  any  "talent"  here  is  a  task)  are  given  the  privilege  of  assist- 
ing the  teacher  in  checking  work  which  is  being  turned  off  at 
high  speed — a  thing  which  happens  very  frequently  when  pupils 
get  their  "second  wind"  in  the  challenge. 

No  contribution,  in  my  judgment,  to  better  teaching  and 
thinking  has  been  made  than  the  introduction  of  the  idea  of 
having  the  pupil  work  with  a  plan  in  mind.  (Mr.  Hart,  Uni- 
versity of  Wisconsin,  has  made  this  procedure  perfectly  clear.) 
In  reality  it  is  the  essence  of  the  scientific  mode  of  thinking. 
The  goal  (conclusion)  is  set  out;  it  is  the  city  yonder  toward 
which  the  road  is  to  be  built.  Too  often  the  learner  is  allowed 
to  think  that  the  road  determines  the  direction  of  the  city.  Not 
so.  The  city  determines  the  general  direction  of  the  road. 
The  particular,  immediate  direction  the  road  takes  at  any  given 
time  in  its  construction  is  influenced  by  circumstances.  No 
matter,  if,  for  the  nonce,  the  road  seems  to  be  veering  off  to  the 
right  or  left,  or,  for  that,  directly  opposite  from  the  city  (goal) — 
provided  only,  the  city  is  in  the  surveyor's  mind  as  the  objective. 
The  pupil  in  a  situation  in  which  creative  (scientific)  thinking 
is  possible  ought  to  be  given  this  rare  privilege  of  building  his 
road  to  the  city.     He  is  both  the  surveyor  and  builder. 

So,  to  every  pupil  in  this  work  procedure:  "What  is  your  goal 
in  this  and  that  part  of  the  challenge?"  Now:  "What  is  your 
plan,  your  (intellectual)  method,  by  which  you  expect  to  build 
the  road  toward  your  city?"  The  consulting  expert  (the  new 
teacher)  will  understand  the  significance  of  circumstances  which 
deflect  the  mind  of  the  pupil  from  an  air-line  construction  of  the 
road  to  the  city.  "Try  it.  It  may  work."  "Make  the  ad- 
venture. You  may  find  that  your  plan  will  lay  golden  eggs  for 
you."  Such  remarks  are  not  idle.  They  may  prove  to  be 
encouragers.  These  builders  need  many  encouragers  along  the 
way.     Judicious  praise  should  not  be  spared. 

(/)  In  the  various  forms  of  concerted  classroom  activity, 
the  reader  is  again  directed  to  Chapter  III.     One  thing  more 


A  MANUAL  OF  SUGGESTIVE  PROCEDURES     19 

seems  fruitful.  The  uses  that  may  be  made  of  the  half- 
dozen,  or  more,  very  difficult  original  exercises  in  the  challenge 
on  the  circle  have  not  been  exhausted.  They  furnish  excellent 
material  for  the  emerging  masters  of  the  challenge  in  the  class. 
It  is  a  refreshing,  exhilarating  emotion  to  hear  high-school  boys 
and  girls  say :  "I  spent  four,  six,  or  eight  hours  on  that  exercise, 
and  I'm  going  to  get  it."  That  is  a  shocking  thing  to  hear  in 
these  days  of  "soft"  pedagogy  and  the  process  of  "painless" 
information  and  "movieized"  education! 

An  additional  use  of  the  most  difficult  original  exercises  is 
suggested.  (Four  pupils  in  the  experiment  on  the  circle  had 
emerged  triumphant  at  a  certain  station  in  the  journey.  In 
the  old  rural  school  they  could  have  been  sent  to  the  spring  a 
half-mile  away  to  carry  the  pail  of  water  to  their  thirsty  class- 
mates— one  of  the  real  boons  in  that  old  school,  and,  by  the 
way,  an  excellent  device  for  getting  rid  of  "bright"  pupils  for 
a  weary  hour.)  These  four  pupils,  who  had  mastered  a  certain 
set  of  supplementary  exercises,  were  given  a  chance  during  the 
class  period  on  this  day  to  draw  a  big  circle  on  a  piece  of  paper 
and  to  put  into  that  circle  all  manner  of  lines.  The  chart  was 
exhibited,  and  the  pupils  were  challenged  to  formulate  as  many 
conclusions  from  the  complicated  figure  as  possible.  More  than 
fifty  were  suggested — an  excellent  review,  by  the  way. 

Now,  with  these  four  out  of  the  way,  and  protected  against 
being  bored,  let  us  suggest  the  additional  use  of  the  very  difficult 
exercise. 

"All  of  you,  let  us  draw  a  circle."  "Read  carefully  exercise 
so  and  so."  Inscribed  hexagon,  not  a  regular  one.  "What 
data  (facts)  are  given?"  Two  pairs  of  opposite  sides  are 
parallel.     Conclusion — The  two  remaining  sides  are  parallel. 

Now  for  a  plan.  (All  working  on  this  exercise,  except  the 
four  who  have  it.) 

"How  do  we  prove  lines  parallel?" 

"We  have  a  right  to  do  anything  we  choose  or  will  to  our 
figure." 

A  diagonal  is  hit  upon.  The  plan  is  set  forth.  Pupils  dis- 
cover it  themselves. 

"Keeping  the  plan  (blueprint)  before  you,  let's  work  by  it." 

"Examine  every  item  in  your  hypothesis."  (Each  pupil, 
on  his  own  mark  now,  writes  all  he  can,  using  his  hypothesis.) 


20  DIRECTING   STUDY 

Certain  arcs  are  found  to  be  equal  by  using  the  given  facts. 

"Angles  may  be  proven  equal.  How?"  (Perhaps  all  the 
ways  previously  developed  will  be  proposed.  Here  is  the 
teacher's  opportunity  to  ask  what  the  author  perhaps  had  in 
mind  in  this  exercise.  So,  it  may  be  necessary  to  point  to  one 
of  the  organizing  principles  in  the  challenge — just  a  physical 
gesture — to  measuring  angles,  etc.) 

The  rest  of  the  solution  is  a  manipulation  of  equations,  and 
it  is  necessary,  it  seems,  to  give  a  short  class  drill  on  handling 
simple  equations. 

In  this  concerted  class  work  it  is  important  to  impress  this 
point:  "William,  are  you  paying  attention?"  "Yes,"  he  replies. 
"Then  quit  it!"  Yea,  verily,  quit  it.  It  is  highly  probable 
that  the  habit  of  "paying  attention"  is  from  the  medulla 
oblongata  down,  not  up.  The  drive  of  attention  forward  into 
new  difficulties  at  the  point  of  crisis  calls  for  eternal  teaching 
vigilance. 

We  have  used  a  very  difficult  original  exercise  as  a  means  of 
clarifying  the  use  of  data  (given)  in  developing  a  plan  {or  intel- 
lectual method)  of  attack. 

The  most  diflBcult  exercise  may  be  utilized  also  as  a  basis  of 
review — a  thoroughly  sound  practice  in  which  the  simpler 
elements  are  caught  up  in  a  new  synthesis. 

The  so-called  "bright"  or  "clever"  pupils  (always  emerging 
in  and  through  work)  are  not  required  to  listen  to  what  they 
know  perfectly  well.  They  can  refine  their  thinking  by  partici- 
pating in  the  development  of  a  technic  of  attack.  They  enjoy 
working  out  "the  rules  of  the  game." 

The  "poorer"  thinkers  in  the  class  have  not  suffered.  They 
have  something  to  reach  up  to.  It  is  not  a  confusing  situation 
to  them.  They  may  not  have  been  able  unaided  to  solve  the 
exercise.  That  is,  in  this  point  of  view,  a  secondary  considera- 
tion. The  diflficult  exercise  has  been  used  to  the  benefit  of  the 
entire  class.  Every  individual  in  the  group  has  found  in  it 
something  worth  while. 

(g)  Observations. — (i)  Out  of  the  last  point,  first:  Is  it  not  a 
futile  cry  to  try  to  determine  the  native  capacity  of  pupils 
ready  (for  one  reason  or  another)  for  the  great  adventure  (into 
geometry,  physics,  Latin,  agriculture,  what  not),  and  thereupon 
to  classify  alleged  abilities?    This  class  of  thirty -eight  boys 


A  MANUAL  OF  SUGGESTIVE  PROCEDURES     21 

and  girls  exhibited  as  far-reaching  differences  in  achievement  as 
could  be  found  in  any  group.  No  one  was  held  back  because 
of  a  "mentally  delayed"  classmate.  The  circle  is  big  enough 
and  flexible  enough  for  a  challenge  to  every  ability.  The  circle 
is  a  function  of  the  radius.  A  ^^ short  radius"  can  describe  a 
complete  circle;  a  "longer  radius"  can  describe  a  complete  circle; 
a  "very  long  radius"  can  describe  a  complete  circle.  The  big 
circle  is  not  scandalized  by  being  associated  with  the  little  cir- 
cle. The  small  circle  need  not  be  humiliated  by  a  big  one.  Two 
essential  matters  emerge.  The  circle  offers  the  unifying,  organ- 
izing principle;  all  sorts  of  transmissions  ahead  are  provided  in 
the  endless  variety  of  materials  utilized  in  the  challenge.  No 
two  radii  need  to  be  the  same  length  except  in  the  same  or  equal 
circles.  No  two  individuals  could  conceivably  be  the  same;  no 
two  individuals  coiild  possibly  have  identical  environmental  fac- 
tors. In  fact,  two  children  in  the  same  home  may  receive  from 
their  father  diametrically  opposite  training.  We  are  in  dire  need 
of  a  careful  social  diagnosis  in  our  efforts  to  appraise  the  reactions 
of  pupils  to  tests  of  aU  kinds.  It  is  supererogation  to  add  that 
the  "radius"  is  not  a  constant  in  the  same  individual. 

The  silly  administrative  twaddle  we  are  hearing  these  days, 
to  the  effect  that  there  are  those  who  cannot  learn  geometry, 
and  that  there  are  those  who  can  do  no  more  than  memorize  a 
few  propositions  with  a  full  demonstration  included,  is  ordy 
another  method  of  dodging  responsibility.  To  parade  now  in 
the  "livery  of  science"  by  classifying  our  potential  mathema- 
ticians, physicists,  etc.,  in  terms  of  their  I.  Q.'s  (intelligence 
quotients)  is  evidence  of  another  good  idea  done  to  death  by 
educators  having  a  penchant  for  fads.  It  is  ridiculous  to  main- 
tain that  the  boy  with  an  I.  Q.  of  77.77  cannot  profit  by  a  study 
of  geometry  (or  any  other  study  for  that). 

(2)  It  may  be  urged  that  the  "poorer"  pupils  in  this  class 
are  unduly  tempted  when  taken  up  into  the  high  mountains — 
the  high  peaks  of  the  difficult  original  exercise.  The  objectors 
and  doubting  Thomases  are  perhaps  influenced  by  the  Biblical 
account  of  his  Satanic  Majesty  and  the  temptation  scene,  but  we 
hasten  to  assure  them  that  ours  is  only  a  decided  leaning  toward 
"prescribed"  temptations  to  excellence.  The  "poorest"  pupil  in 
the  class  needs  to  be  lifted  up  where  he  too,  now  and  again,  may 
catch  something  of  the  vision  and  perspective  of  the  mountain- 


22  DIRECTING  STUDY 

climbers.  What  he  does  on  his  "level"-will  soon  begin  to  take 
on  a  new  significance  by  the  fact  of  having  icaught  a^gy.  •  rr-  - ' 
higher  reaches,  even  though  assisted  in  the  climbing.,  vb  sj.  n 

(3)  Chapter  IV  is  illustrated  in  this  challenge.  The  organ- 
izing principles  and  differentials  are  admirably  delineated. 
Provision  is  made  for  individual  differences.  No  minimum 
essential  is  ever  allowed  to  degenerate  into  a  maximum  necessity. 

(4)  A  group  mediocrity  is  not  desired.  In  fact,  the  more 
highly  selected  the  class  group  the  greater  the  possible  ranges  of 
achievement.  Endless  differentiation  is  possible  where  endeavor 
is  negotiated  on  a  life  basis.  If  anybody  actually  wanted  a 
bona-fide  regimental  uniformity  in  things  intellectual,  moral,  and 
spiritual,  the  way  to  get  it  is  to  assemble  for  the  study  of  ge- 
ometry a  class  of  functionally  near-imbeciles.  There  would  be, 
no  doubt,  a  high  degree  of  uniformity  in  such  a  group.  It  is  not, 
however,  essential  to  have  approximate  equality  of  "capacity" 
in  any  normal  group  for  the  pursuit  of  any  subject  in  the  cur- 
riculum. 

(5)  Testing  for  mastery  may  be  conceived  in  many  ways. 
In  this  class  the  challenge  was  closed  (never  finished)  with  all 
on  their  marks  for  a  class  period,  writing  on  as  many  of  some 
dozen  parts  (exercises)  in  the  big  challenge  as  they  could  do. 
Twenty-five  per  cent  was  given  for  each  one  of  the  twelve 
mastered  in  the  class  period.  Some  pupils  earned  as  high  as 
300  per  cent.  For  those  who  fell  below  100  per  cent,  a  Saturday 
morning  was  set  apart  for  a  second  or  third  try-out  with  all 
the  time  the  pupU  in  difficvdty  wanted  to  use — four  hours  or 
more.  A  dozen  hands  were  up  to  volunteer  to  coach  a  class- 
mate in  difficulty,  preparatory  to  the  Saturday-morning  oppor- 
tunity class.  The  test  for  mastery  in  the  Saturday-morning 
situation  was  similar  to  the  one  just  described.  The  boy,  a 
victim  of  defense  reactions,  finally  got  the  belt  on  his  generator 
in  a  Saturday-morning  class  after  about  an  hour's  fussing  the 
spinal  cord,  and  actually  got  down  to  hard  work  and  made 
175  per  cent  in  the  test  for  mastery.  The  new  teacher  will  re- 
fuse to  regiment  adolescents  under  time-and-space-efficiency 
methods.  The  law  of  chance  needs  to  be  distributed  more  equita- 
bly than  happens  in  any  test  by  the  clock  under  the  hammer. 

(6)  What  we  have  indicated  in  this  elaborate  presentation  of 


A  MANUAL  OF  SUGGESTIVE  PROCEDURES     23 

six  to  eight  weeks'  work  on  the  circle  is  applicable  to  almost 
her  subject  in  the  curriculum.  The  reader  is  urged  to 
.t,ain  the  illustrative  exercises,  pp.  120 Jf.,  130 jf.,  i6o_^.,  in 
the  body  of  our  discussion.  To  be  sure,  each  course  must  em- 
ploy its  own  special  technics.  There  is  no  general  method, 
universally  applicable  as  a  method,  such  as  the  enthusiasts  for 
the  "project"  level  of  teaching  would  seem  to  imply. 

(7)  The  tired,  the  inert,  the  mechanical  teachers  (made  such 
by  the  system),  and  all  others  who  enjoy  poor  pedagogical  health, 
may  not  have  the  courage  to  make  the  adventure  upon  the 
challenge  procedure. 

(8)  "They  say":  All  this  could  be  done  if  we  had  teachers  of 
dynamic  personality.  The  answer  to  this  honest  scepticism  is 
by  way  of  analogy.  The  old  practitioner  in  medicine,  let  us 
assume,  is  a  wholesome,  radiant,  dynamic  personality — a  lova- 
ble man  who  kisses  all  the  babies  in  the  neighborhood.  Across 
the  street  is  a  physician-surgeon  who  has  mastered  the  tech- 
nic  of  modern  medicine.  His  personality  is  not  particularly 
charming  or  virile,  but  he  knows  modern  medicine  and  surgery. 
To  which  one  is  a  man  going  for  an  operation  ?  The  initial  act 
is  bound  to  be  far-reaching.  The  system  employed  does  make 
a  tremendous  difference.  The  ideal  is  a  new  scientific  human- 
ism. 

(9)  And  "they"  will  ask:  How  do  you  know  these  thirty- 
eight  pupils  have  done  any  better  than  they  would  have  done 
under  the  recitation  system  ?  Frankly  we  don't  know.  It  is  a 
manifest  impossibility  to  compare  the  same  pupils  in  two  different 
systems.  We  could  crawl  among  the  dust  of  figures,  piling  up 
the  "averages  of  the  averages,"  and,  perhaps,  make  out  a  case. 
But  we  maintain  the  proposition  that  the  common  practice  of 
resorting  to  the  popular  psychology  of  arithmetic,  believing 
that  an  argument  backed  up  by  cold  figures  must  carry  certi- 
tude, is  a  fallacious  practice.  It  may  be  mere  rationalizing — 
just  a  method  of  arraying  evidence  to  support  a  belief  already 
accepted.  The  essential  matter  lies  deeper.  The  drive  is 
headed  up  in  the  direction  of  building  minds  capable  of  analyzing 
problems  in  the  light  of  facts.  The  mind,  conceived  as  a  truth- 
finding  apparatus,  is  held  to  be  an  aim  far  superior  to  that  of 
making  the  mind  a  truth-testing  apparatus.     It  is  the  difference 


24  DIRECTING   STUDY 

between  education  as  a  creative,  productive  process  and  educa- 
tion as  an  assimilative,  reproductive  process.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  these  boys  and  girls  took  to  their  work  as  ducks  to  water. 
That,  also,  seems  to  be  a  worthy  measure  of  educational  prac- 
tices. 

(10)  There  were  no  "failures"  in  this  class.  The  goal  set 
for  every  member  of  the  class  was  mastery.  No  primitive  fool- 
ishness was  entertained  about  failing  13.3  per  cent  to  make  the 
results  conform  to  a  "probability  curve."  In  the  five  or  six 
specific  challenges  within  the  circle  they  all  finally  attained  the 
mastery  agreed  upon  in  the  course,  viz.:  100  per  cent  in  each 
challenge  by  the  method  described  above  (5).  That  was  only 
one  of  many  elements  entering  into  a  judgment  of  the  pupil's 
power. 

(11)  Who  is  the  "poorest"  pupil  anyhow?  The  system  has 
not  been  invented,  the  professor  is  stQl  unborn,  to  tell  us  what 
the  "fitness"  or  "capacity"  or  "potential"  is  of  whipsters  13, 
14,  15,  or  16,  "running  at  large"  intellectually,  so  to  speak. 
One  of  the  "poorest"  in  this  class  the  first  six  weeks  became  one 
of  the  four  or  five  top-notchers  before  the  first  half  of  the  year 
was  up.  He  reminded  one  of  an  unassembled  Ford  at  first. 
He  was  given  a  motto,  and  he  worked  it  out  under  vigorous 
social  criticism.  The  motto  ran  thus:  "The  thinker  finds  a 
chairman  in  the  mass-meeting  of  his  mind  whose  duty  it  is  to 
command  all  other  noisy  facts  to  sit  down  and  be  in  order.  The 
thinker  finds  some  fact  to  do  senatorial  duty."  This  is  only  a  hint 
as  to  the  desperate  responsibility  the  new  teacher  will  assume 
in  the  task  of  making  the  individual,  or  in  seeing  to  it  that  he 
actually  creates  himself  by  his  own  activity.  It  has  always  been 
easy  to  dismiss  the  loose-jointed,  chattering  adolescent  from 
the  class  and  the  school.  That  has  been  the  disposition  of 
those  interlopers  in  the  profession  who  think  it  to  be  their  duty 
to  take  care  of  the  "called  and  chosen" — a  curious  survival  in 
this  day  of  democratic  ideals  and  in  the  light  of  the  cry  of  the 
adolescent. 

(12)  To  make  an  even  dozen  observations,  these  pupils  did 
not  work  merely  for  the  sake  of  the  loaves  and  fishes.  There 
was  developed  a  spirit  of  challenge  and  a  zest  for  work  and  a 
joy  in  achievement. 


A   MANUAL  OF   SUGGESTIVE  PROCEDURES     25 

"A  pair  of  compasses,  being  asked 
why,  in  order  to  draw  a  circle,  one 
foot  stood  and  the  other  moved,  replied, 

CONSTANCY  AND  WORK  GO  TO- 
GETHER." 

The  underlying  principles  of  procedure  in  relation 
to  subject-matter  are  discussed  in  Chapter  IV.  In- 
stead of  emphasizing  "minimum  essentials"  under  the 
going  machine  of  assimilation  with  the  conventional 
drive  for  uniformity,  the  aim  in  all  these  illustrative 
exercises  is  to  find  a  highest  common  multiple  that 
expresses  a  community  of  interests.  This  position  is 
diametrically  opposed  to  current  practices  in  which 
the  avowed  purpose  is  to  establish  a  least  common 
denominator  of  social  and  practical  information. 

The  circle  in  the  illustration  stands  for  that  highest 
common  multiple  in  any  working  group.  The  abso- 
lutist in  education  may  contend  that  the  radius  of 
any  given  person  is  constant.  We  could  agree  only 
on  the  assumption  that  it  is  the  business  of  the  absolute 
to  grow.  The  essential  point  in  our  view  has  been 
stated.  A  complete  circle  can  be  described  with  a 
radius  of  any  length,  if  a  centre  of  constancy  is  estab- 
lished about  which  work  may  be  done.  This  highly 
colorful  figure  should  find  its  analogue  in  all  courses 
in  the  curriculum. 

vn 

The  new  school  will  aim  to  delete  two  major  types  of 
waste  in  our  classrooms:  (a)  the  waste  resulting  from 
the  recitation  of  anything  perfectly  well  known  by 
any  member  of  the  class,  or  the  recitation  of  things 


26  DIRECTING  STUDY 

that  are  liable  to  become  a  bore  to  members  of  the 
class  expected  to  pay  attention ;  (b)  the  waste  resulting 
from  asking  questions  which  the  teacher  knows  per- 
fectly well  the  pupil  addressed  cannot  answer.  Stating 
the  issue  constructively,  the  new  school  will  aim  to  set 
up  an  environment  in  which  every  pupil  has  a  real  job 
during  the  entire  class  period.  The  objective  is  the 
work  spirit.  When  that  objective  is  clearly  worked 
out,  pupils  are  not  fatigued  in  the  70-minute  class 
period.     Few  pupils  are  overworked. 

Exercise. — Three  or  four  paragraphs  were  written  on  the 
board  (or  mimeographed)  without  punctuation,  capitalization, 
or  paragraph  arrangement. 

Procedure. — Pupils  started  at  once  to  rewrite  the  material, 
fashioning  it  into  good,  if  not  correct,  form.  The  problem  or 
task  was  clear.  There  was  continuity  of  meaning  in  the  ma- 
terial. The  teacher  had  a  chance  to  become  a  consulting  expert 
while  the  work  was  being  done.  The  pupils  emerging  out  of 
the  challenge  found  other  work  to  do.  When  we  organize  our 
courses  under  the  problem-case  method,  there  will  be  found  many 
opportunities  for  taking  up  "unfinished  business"  with  pupils 
about  to  "finish  their  education."  No  upper  limit  should  be 
set  in  such  exercises. 

In  setting  out  the  problem  cases  in  courses  of  instruction,  our 
hope  is  that  a  mere  bookkeeping  procedure  may  be  escaped. 
Chapter  IV  is  intended  to  be  an  illumination  of  a  way  of  escap- 
ing this  dilemma. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  include  illustrations  of  this  type  of  pro- 
cedure. Any  teacher  can  select  good  material  and  cast  it  up 
into  this  "general  frame  of  reference." 

VIII 

7TH  Grade,  Junior  High  School,  Social  Studies 

Challenge. — A  study  of  Alaska  and  Hawaii. 
Procedure. — Pupils  worked  up  advertisements  to  show  some 
of  the  possibilities  of  these  countries.     A  bit  of  history  was  in- 


A  MANUAL  OF  SUGGESTIVE  PROCEDURES     27 

eluded.  In  some  cases  the  pupils  designed  and  produced  their 
posters  together;  some  were  done  by  individuals  working  alone. 
The  teacher  was  a  consulting  expert  and  a  general  director. 
Two  or  three  days  were  given  to  this  work  in  class. 

Illustrative  material,  in  color  at  times,  was  employed,  such  as 
a  drawing  of  a  mountain  or  volcano,  an  ocean  liner,  an  oil-derrick. 
There  were  signs  of  budding  real-estate  genius  in  these  posters. 
They  were  informing;  they  afforded  opportunity  for  a  func- 
tional review;  a  basis  for  the  need  (social)  of  correct  spelling  and 
good  (effective)  English  was  laid.  In  imagination  these  young- 
sters were  selling  real  estate,  promoting  interest  in  travel, 
presenting  in  attractive  forms  the  productions  of  these  coun- 
tries. 

Review  by  reF>etition  and  mechanical  drill  was  not  stressed. 
The  posters  were  displayed.  Every  pupil  had  a  vivid  presenta- 
tion of  the  leading  features  (as  each  conceived  it)  of  the  chal- 
lenge. The  pupils  worked  in  a  "controlled"  environment,  and 
yet  there  was  effective  freedom. 

Illustrative  Posters: 

(i) 

OIL ! ! !        OIL ! ! !        OIL ! ! ! 

Come  and  Find  Out. 

GREAT  OIL  FIELDS  IN  ALASKA 

FOR  LOW  PRICES 

2000  ACRES  FOR  SALE 

20  acres  at  $3000 

TAKE  THE  SEATTLE  AND  PUGET  SOUND 

TRIP.      WE  PAY  YOUR  FARE  ALL  THE  WAY. 

SEE  GREAT  FALLS 

OIL  COMPANY 

205  GAY  BUILDING. 

— Harry  (ii  years). 


28  DIRECTING  STUDY 

(Harry  had  spelled  Puget  Sound,  "Pugut,"  and 
"Youre  Fair."  The  teacher  remarked:  "Harry,  I  fear 
you  will  not  sell  your  lots  unless  you  mend  your  spell- 
ing a  bit."     Harry  made  his  own  corrections.) 

(2) 

OFF  FOR  HAWAII! 

The  American  South  America 

Just  sail  away,  on  a  certain  day 

To  the  land  where  the  sugar-canes  grow, 

Where  we'll  sell  you  a  lot,  you'll  be  glad  you've  got, 

In  the  place  where  the  soft  breezes  blow, 

2000 

Lots  for  sale 

Swimming  Surf-bathing 

Fine  Mountain  Scenery 

Where  you  can  raise: 

Sugar, 
Temperature  coffee, 

67°  pineapples, 

all  year  Cattle 

round 

IMMENSE  BUSINESS  OPPORTUNITIES 

Write  to  Hawaiian  Realty  Co.,  Honolulu,  Oahu  Is. 

— Marjorie  (ii  years). 

Note. — Why  not  make  this  type  of  work  a  basis  for 
good  English  expression,  instead  of  seeking  to  negotiate 
the  ritual  of  themes  and  the  literary  canon  in  the 
conventional  way? 


A  MANUAL  OF   SUGGESTIVE  PROCEDURES     29 

(3) 

COME  TO  HONOLULU 

The  capital  and  chief  sea-port 

of  the 

Hawaiian  Islands 

Only  6  to  8  days  from  San  Francisco 

On  the  best  steamship  line. 
From  Honolulu  come  to  the  Pearl 
Harbor  Resort.     Only  a  few  miles. 
Good  swimming  and  golfing 
And  a  mild  climate 
Not  over  67° 
Many  picturesque  trips  can  be  taken 

from  the  Resort. 

If  you  want  to  spend  a  good  winter, 

Write  to  the 

Pearl  Harbor  Resort 
Pearl  Harbor,  Hawaii. 

— Eleanor  (12  years). 

DC 

About  qth- Grade  English 

(The  underlying  procedure  is  applicable  to  any  year.  Through- 
out the  grades  and  high  school  some  such  approach  as  is  illus- 
trated in  this  exercise  is  helpful.  Upon  the  introduction  of 
technical  grammar  this  procedure  may  prove  suggestive.) 

Exercise  or  Problem. — Building  up  the  compound-sentence 
idea. 

Procedure. — The  approach  is  developed  through  the  activity  of 
the  pupil.  The  notion  of  independent  and  dependent  clauses 
is  skilfully  introduced  in  class  discussion  by  having  pupils 
respond  in  terms  of  things  they  are  actually  doing.     They  are 


30  DIRECTING   STUDY 

induced  to  make  reactions  of  one  sort  and  another,  and  then  to 
relate  their  activities  in  words.  When  two  "independent" 
ideas  or  actions  are  hit  upon,  the  analysis  is  carried  forward 
until  it  is  made  clear  that  two  full  sentences  might  have  been 
employed,  instead  of  one,  joined  by  the  conjunction.  (By  the 
way,  the  parts  of  speech  can  be  worked  up  in  vitalizing  dramatic 
presentation.  A  little  play  was  created  by  the  class  in  this 
account.  The  noun  stands  forth  and  presents  his  function. 
The  pronoun  marches  out  to  stand  there  as  a  substitute.  The 
conjunction  performs  a  marriage  ceremony,  and  the  merry- 
making ejaculators  make  the  scene  a  comedy,  etc.) 

The  idea  of  the  exercise  is  developed  in  class.  Definitions 
are  avoided  for  the  time  being.  Written  exercises  in  text- 
books are  not  used  in  the  early  stages.  Later  they  may  be  used 
for  drill  purposes  caught  up  in  the  game  or  contest. 

The  essential  matter  in  this  creative  procedure  in  which  we 
shall  aim  to  work  with  prospective  intention,  rather  than  retro- 
spective intention  and  reproduction  of  ready-made  forms,  is 
clearly  to  present  the  work  in  a  manner  that  calls  for  self-activity 
in  the  building  of  sentences  to  illustrate  the  compound-sentence 
idea.  The  same  precautions  should  be  taken  at  any  level  of 
the  child's  experience  in  approaching  the  conventional  or  formal 
ways  of  English  expression.  This  self-creative  process  should 
precede  the  practice  of  picking  out  sentences  from  the  printed 
page  (in  context)  designed  to  illustrate  the  compound-sentence 
idea,  or  any  other  grammar  idea  for  that. 

The  most  difficult  task  confronting  the  new  teacher  at  this 
juncture  is  the  home  study  or  out-of-class  study  or  preparation 
of  "lessons."  The  disposition  of  "helpers" — parents  and 
friendly  counsellors — is,  in  almost  every  case,  to  pass  on  or  over 
to  the  pupil  a  ready-made  sentence,  either  out  of  a  book  or  out 
of  their  own  construction,  just  as  pieces  of  pie  are  passed  around 
at  the  table.  It  is  easy  to  be  filled  up  with  the  stuff  of  lessons. 
It  is  so  easy  to  engage  in  trick  training  (protect  the  word — edu- 
cation). In  almost  any  subject,  the  "learner"  can  be  trained 
to  respond  to  signals.  Pupils  can  readily  supply  themselves 
with  an  assortment  of  sentences  for  the  next  day,  and  remain 
wholly  innocent  of  the  meaning  of  what  they  bring  into  the  class 
under  the  very  common  practices  of  our  lesson-hearing  schools. 

An  illustration  will  help  to  make  clear  the  difference  here  be- 


A  MANUAL  OF  SUGGESTIVE  PROCEDURES     31 

tween  intelligent  home  assistance  and  the  corrupting  practices 
of  "getting  lessons."  A  little  boy,  twelve  years  old,  apprised  his 
relatives  at  the  dinner-table  that  he  was  expected  to  invent 
several  sentences  for  his  class  next  day  illustrating  the  com- 
pound-sentence idea.  He  was  inclined  to  engage  his  mind  in 
reaching  out  into  space  somewhere  for  his  sentences.  He  was 
trying  to  recall  an  image  of  the  printed  page  where  he  might 
have  seen  samples.  It  is  a  case  of  the  mind  reacting  in  a  memo- 
rizing school,  trying  to  dig  up  an  old  movie  film  out  of  the  rag- 
bag of  memory.  This  little  fellow  was  guided  in  his  dilemma. 
He  asked  for  a  piece  of  bread.  His  mentor  said:  "Now,  boy, 
just  frame  up  a  sentence  on  the  immediate  things  you  are 
doing  or  are  about  to  do."  "Just  let  your  mind  run  on  with 
perfect  freedom."  This  was  his  sentence:  "The  bread  that  I 
want  is  white  and  the  butter  which  I  wish  to  spread  on  it  is 
yellow."  Before  the  dinner  was  over  the  boy  had  discovered 
that  each  member  of  his  own  sentence  was  complex.  He  dia- 
grammed his  sentence  and  worked  out  a  haK-dozen  or  more  in  a 
brief  time.  He  built  his  own  sentences  out  of  his  activities. 
Another  illustration,  all  his  own,  in  this  list  was:  "The  pencil 
(that)  I  am  using  is  yellow,  and  the  paper  which  I  am  writing 
on  is  white." 

It  requires  no  unique  imagery  to  picture  the  home  in  which 
the  performances  of  parents  and  friends  are  conducted  when 
summoned  to  help  Susan,  Dick,  Tom,  and  Mabel  in  the  task  of 
getting  lessons.  The  empty  vessels  are  filled.  Ready-made 
facts  are  funnelled  into  the  mind  from  without.  The  "lessons" 
are  handed  in  the  next  day.  Teachers  waste  their  time  in  cor- 
recting the  work  of  tired  and  confused  parents.  The  value  of 
good  teaching  is  nullified.  There  is  need  of  legislation  in  the 
nature  of  "  Corrupt  Practices  Acts"  in  order  to  protect  the  minds 
of  pupils,  intellectual  "Innocents  Abroad,"  against  this  per- 
nicious system  of  acceptance  of  "educational"  goods  as  a  free 
gift.  The  boy  across  the  street  in  the  illustration  cited  in  this 
exercise  was  corrupted  to  the  very  roots,  intellectually  and 
spiritually,  when  his  mother  (a  teacher  of  the  old  order)  passed 
over  to  her  dear  boy  a  full  line  of  ready-made  sentences  for  the 
next  day's  "lesson."  Of  course  this  boy  stood  up  and  read  his 
fond  "mama's"  sentences  with  much  gusto.  He  was  being 
victimized  by  a  systematic  general  indulgence  at  home.     (His 


32  DIRECTING   STUDY 

"mama,"  by  the  way,  took  the  sentences  from  an  old  text-book, 
and  there  is  irony  in  that  performance  too.) 

Going  back  to  the  first  boy  again,  we  find  another  helpful 
suggestion  in  the  nature  of  extra-curricular  guidance.  One 
morning  in  the  dressing-room,  his  mentor  recalled  the  work  of  his 
class  on  the  compound-sentence  idea,  and  asked  him  to  create 
a  few  just  for  fun.  The  boy  began  to  reach  out  again  as  if 
something  were  to  be  found  on  the  shelf,  up  in  the  medicine- 
cabinet,  or  behind  the  radiator.  "No,  boy,  just  make  them 
up  out  of  your  activity."  Soon  he  said:  "The  shirt  I  am  put- 
ting on  is  badly  faded,  and  the  socks  I  am  about  to  put  on  are 
holey."  At  once  his  chattering  ran  off  on  a  condenser  he  had 
made  the  night  before.  (All  boys  take  to  electricity,  if  they  have 
a  ghost  of  a  chance.  It  is  siUy  nonsense  to  suppose  interests  in 
radio  are  native.)  "Now,  boy,  if  you  want  to  tell  me  about 
your  condenser,  tell  it  in  a  good  complex-compound-complex 
sentence.  He  did  it  thus:  "The  condenser  which  I  made  last 
night  works  very  well  indeed,  and  when  I  rub  my  feet  (shoes 
on)  on  the  rug  it  is  charged." 

The  contrast  is  dwelt  on  here,  because  we  are  morally  certain 
that  no  aspect  of  directing  stiidy  for  creative  thinking  is  more 
crucial  than  the  control  and  redirection  of  home  study  and  out- 
of-class  work.  The  seemingly  inevitable  tendency  is  to  fall  back 
upon  acceptance  of  ready-made  data.  It  will  require  years  of 
patient  and  persistent  experimentation  to  eradicate  the  disposi- 
tion to  regard  "learning"  as  the  acceptance  of  facts,  and  to  move 
up  to  the  level  of  viewing  education  as  the  process  of  analyzing 
problems  in  the  light  of  facts. 

The  important  consideration  in  this  exercise  or  problem  is  to 
make  sure  that  the  pupil  shall  begin  his  sentence-building  out 
of  his  own  (guided)  activities.  He  should  be  guarded  subse- 
quently in  any  review  or  reference  in  order  that  he  may  not 
deteriorate  into  the  practice  of  the  artificial  schoolboy  who 
reports  in  terms  of  old  movie  films  stored  up  in  memory.  The 
creative  work  must  not  cease  even  in  review  or  drill.  Otherwise, 
the  process  of  instillation  will  intrude  itself  with  all  the  dangers 
of  indoctrination.  Text-books  will  not  be  deleted.  They  may 
be  used  in  the  game,  in  the  contest,  under  the  spirit  and  genius 
of  the  old  spelling-bee  of  our  fathers.  The  interesting  side  of 
the  problem  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  pupils  will  be  able  to  exhaust 


A  MANUAL  OF  SUGGESTIVE   PROCEDURES     33 

the  material  of  more  text-books  than  the  ordinary  school  now 
provides. 

Up  through  self-activity  by  a  creative  process  into  text 
material  and  supplementary  matter  indicates,  in  a  way,  the 
direction  of  this  procedure. 

In  this  exercise  or  problem  carried  on  for  several  days  as  a 
part  of  the  challenge  in  the  classes  studied,  diagramming  of 
sentences  was  freely  used.  This  practice  may  strike  some 
readers  as  a  bit  old  fashioned.  We  are  quite  sure  that  boys  and 
girls  find  diagramming  a  fruitful  practice.  A  "general  frame  of 
reference"  aids  the  mind  in  clarifying  word  functions  in  sen- 
tence structure.  If  it  resvdts  in  a  mechanical  formalism,  may 
not  that  result  be  due  to  a  much  more  fundamental  error  or 
philosophy  back  of  the  whole  system  of  education?  Any 
formula  may  be  abused.  Any  pattern  may  become  an  empty 
form.  That  fact  does  not  invalidate  the  formula,  either  in 
science  or  English  expression.  The  psychological  import  of 
representing  relations  in  a  diagram  would  seem  to  be  sound. 
Moreover,  the  new  procedure  calls  for  an  enormous  amount  of 
work  in  checking  results.  The  teacher,  by  "a  stroke  of  the 
eye,"  can  check  the  pupil's  work  on  his  sentences  when  they  are 
thrown  into  a  good,  clear,  differentiating  diagram.  Besides 
the  economical  aspects  of  the  problem,  youngsters  find  real 
enjoyment  in  diagramming.  The  emerging  masters  in  any 
class  group,  dealing  with  the  relative  pronoun,  need  not  stop 
short  of  "Than  whom  Beelzebub,  none  higher  sat,"  etc.,  as  a 
bit  of  a  challenge  to  their  powers,  and,  as  pointed  out  in  our 
illustrative  procedure  (No.  VI),  the  practice  of  scaling  the  Al- 
pine peaks  of  difficulties  wUl  react  beneficially  upon  every  mem- 
ber of  a  working,  climbing,  participating  group. 

The  pupils  were  asked  to  explain  the  various  forms  of  the 
compound-sentence  idea,  taking  it  for  granted  that  their  audi- 
ence did  not  understand  the  problem. 

John,  fourteen,  wrote  it  thus:  (Only  a  sample.) 

"Seeing  that  you  know  what  simple,  complex,  compound  sen- 
tences are,  I  will  now  try  to  show  you  how  we  arrive  at  a  com- 
plex-compound sentence. 

First  I  will  write  a  complex-compound  sentence  and  then 
take  it  apart  and  show  you  the  relation  of  its  parts  to  one  an- 
other. 


34  DIRECTING  STUDY 

This  book  which  has  a  green  cover  on  it  is  torn  and  I  will 
make  a  new  cover  for  it.     (The  boy  diagrammed  his  sentence.) 

This  book  is  torn,  I  will  number  i. 

Which  has  a  cover  on  it,  I  will  number  2. 

I  will  make  a  new  cover  for  it,  I  will  number  3. 

Now,  I  plus  2  together  make  a  complex  sentence. 

I  and  3  together  make  a  compound  sentence. 

Therefore  (i  plus  2)  plus  3  must  make  a  complex-com- 
pound sentence. 

So  we  draw  the  conclusion  that  (o  plus  b)  plus  c  =  ? 
So  our  definition  of  a  compound-complex  sentence  is  simple. 
Any  sentence,  part  of  which  is  compound  and  the  other  part 
complex,  forms  a  compound-complex  sentence.  Or,  if  a  part 
of  a  sentence  is  complex  and  the  other  parts  compound,  then  we 
have  a  complex-compound  sentence." 

Out  of  the  classes  from  which  this  illustrative  procedure  is 
developed,  some  of  the  kiddies,  John  and  others,  made  the  dis- 
covery that  (a  plus  b)  plus  (c  plus  d)  might  be  used  to  represent 
a  complex-compound-complex  sentence,  in  which  each  member 
of  the  compound  sentence  is  complex.  One  is  tempted  to  add 
a  word  about  the  exhilaration  of  discovery  and  the  penchant 
for  big  words  in  these  early,  yeasty  years  of  adolescence.  Suffice 
it  to  raise  the  query:  Why  should  the  "professor"  think  that 
he  alone  has  a  "vested  right"  in  coining  new  words?  (Inci- 
dentally, cross  connections  can  be  made  between  departments. 
Algebra  is  not  a  useless  abstraction  in  a  vital  school.  The 
teacher  of  geometry  will  do  well  to  reciprocate,  and  make  vivid 
use  of  the  dependent  proposition  and  the  independent  proposition 
when  dealing  with  the  hypothesis  and  conclusion.) 

The  nomenclature  is  not  so  desperately  important,  if  a  real 
building  process  is  being  carried  out  in  the  mind  of  the  learner. 
We  need  to  pay  attention  to  conventional  forms,  but  the  main 
thing  in  creative  thinking  is  to  see  to  it  that  mere  definitions 
are  utterly  useless,  and  that  vital  principles  can  be  built  up  in  a 
moving-learning  synthesis.  Here,  as  in  the  case  of  a  triangle 
regarded  as  a  thing  to  think  with,  so  the  diagram  or  any  objective 
representation  in  a  "general  frame  of  reference"  comes  to  have 
significance  and  economy  as  a  thing  to  think  with.  There  is  no 
danger  of  a  mechanical  formalism  so  long  as  the  instruments  oj 
teaching  and  learning  are  used  in  creativeness. 


A  MANUAL  OF  SUGGESTIVE  PROCEDURES     35 

Starting  with  individual  work  in  the  building  of  the  sentences 
out  of  guided  action  and  reaction  to  suggestion,  an  interesting 
and  productive  procedure  may  be  employed  in  the  form  of  part- 
nership teaching.  The  pupils  may  be  paired  in  the  class- 
room and  each  may  explain  and  expound  to  the  other  his  own 
list  of  sentences.  (A  little  fellow,  only  twelve,  in  the  class  from 
which  the  main  points  of  this  illustration  are  drawn,  expounded 
the  compound  sentence  to  a  university  professor.  The  professor 
said  it  was  most  illuminating.)  Each  will  profit  by  the  other's 
production.  Variety  will  be  evident,  for  the  pupUs  have  been 
engaged  in  a  creative  opportunity.  The  teacher  moves  effec- 
tively among  the  little  groups  stimulating,  guiding,  shifting  this 
one  and  that  one  into  better  and  better  working  relations.  The 
visiting  spectator  will  perhaps  see  nothing  in  this  procedure 
but  a  "bear  garden."  He  will  fail  to  appraise  what  he  thinks 
he  sees.  He  may  need  to  be  told  that  it  is  the  dust  of  industry 
and  a  shared  activity — a  consummation  far  exceeding  the  order 
of  a  cemetery  for  boys  and  girls  cured  of  the  habits  of  "paying 
attention "  and  loyally  co-operating  with  the  teacher  to  put  the 
hour  out  of  its  agony.  Our  spectators,  both  pupils  and  visitors, 
need  to  be  converted  into  participants.  The  next  step  up  from 
partnerships  is  a  grouping  of  pupils  under  leaders  chosen  out 
of  their  group.  The  whole  class  may  come  to  concerted  atten- 
tion whenever  there  is  need  of  clarification  of  organizing  princi- 
ples, or  when  there  has  been  work  enough  to  make  a  discussion 
procedure  profitable,  or  when  the  game  is  on  for  competitive 
results.  A  pupil  chairman  may,  now  and  again,  be  helpful  in  a 
socializing  procedure — hardly  ever  in  the  recitation  system  or 
any  form  of  regimentation.  Where  the  corporate  spirit  is  made 
the  point  of  departure  and  the  goal  (flying  goal)  toward  which 
we  are  striving,  there  are  many  ways  open  for  participation  and 
for  the  exercise  of  alternate  forms  of  leadership.  The  spectator 
•mil  know  next  to  nothing  about  all  this  so  long  as  he  sits  on  the 
bleacher  seats. 

Two  sets  of  text-books  containing  exercises  upwn  a  given  prin- 
ciple may  be  used  in  this  partnership  way.  Two  sets  (dupli- 
cated) of  word  lists  may  furnish  the  teacher  a  way  of  partner- 
ship teaching  and  open  up  the  highway  to  corporate  responsi- 
bility in  the  class.  It  is  the  way,  also,  toward  a  cultivation  of 
self-respect.     Emerson  can  tell  us  about  that.     Each  pupil  in  a 


36  DIRECTING  STUDY 

partnership  arrangement,  especially  in  the  sentences  built  up 
as  illustrated  above,  has  something  to  contribute  quite  his  own. 
Uniformity  of  materials  of  assignment  suggests  identity  of 
opinion.  That  is  a  stupid  thing  in  any  conversational  group 
and  equally  futile  in  any  situation  directed  to  creative  effort. 


X 

This  exercise  is  selected  to  indicate  procedure.  It 
will  be  noted  that  work  is  described  for  a  period  of  five 
or  six  days.  The  entire  account  is  given  in  the  form 
of  a  diary  by  a  college  senior,  participating  in  a  9th- 
grade  class  in  English.  The  reader  will  catch  a  glimpse 
of  the  procedure  employed  in  the  school  and  also  some 
idea  of  the  way  of  preparing  the  teacher  through  partici- 
pation. The  college  senior  in  this  procedure  (not 
practice  teaching)  is  never  allowed  to  be  a  spectator; 
the  purpose  is  to  become  a  participant. 

This  class  was  composed  of  a  staff  teacher,  thirty- 
six  pupils  (9th  grade),  and  three  college  seniors. 


Miss  H,  is  reporting.  Mr.  P.  is  the  staff  teacher. 
At  the  close  Miss  P.,  another  college  senior,  is  given  a 
chance  to  talk. 


To-day  at  the  beginning  of  the  hour,  Mr.  P.  handed  each  of  us 
(pupils  included)  a  mimeographed  class  roll.  After  each  name  we  put 
the  mark  that  we  thought  he  was  worth.  The  pupils  were  very  hard 
to  mark.  Some  of  them  do  not  often  bring  themes  to  read  but  take  an 
active  interest  in  the  proceedings  of  the  class,  i.  e.,  Russel  never  volun- 
teers to  read  a  story,  but  he  comments  readily  on  the  themes  of  others. 
Last  Thursday  when  I  was  chairman  I  asked  him  to  tell  a  story  (he  did 
not  volunteer)  and  he  told  one  of  the  best  that  has  been  told  in  that 
class.  He  is  in  the  geometry  class  I  am  in,  also,  and  by  comparing  the 
work  done  in  both  classes,  I  think  that  perhaps  he  underestimates  his 
ability.     I  think  he  is  a  little  lax  in  doing  his  work. 


A  MANUAL  OF  SUGGESTIVE   PROCEDURES     37 

Since  Marshall  is  so  very  interested  in  his  work  and  takes  such  an 
active  part  in  the  class  work — he  always  has  a  story — I  think  he  deserves 
a  very  good  mark  even  though  his  themes  show  signs  of  haste. 

I  do  not  know  what  to  give  Bowen.  He  is  not  interested  and  always 
does  so  much  to  distract  the  work  of  the  others  and  to  annoy  the  chair- 
man. If  he  could  be  made  interested  in  the  work  so  that  he  would 
forget  to  be  mischievous.  Then,  too,  he  is  at  the  age  when  boys  are 
usually  "smart." 

Florence  is  plainly  not  interested.  She  has  no  time  to  waste  writing 
themes.  She  very  seldom  comments  and  never  writes,  but  I  think 
that  she  could. 

I  wish  Henry  would  write  more.  He  could  write  well  and  he  made  the 
best  chairman  we  have  had  this  semester. 

Alice  and  Eunice  are,  it  seems  to  me,  all  that  we  could  wish.  They 
are  interested  and  they  alwajrs  have  themes,  and  they  read  well. 

After  we  finished  the  grades,  Mr.  P.  assigned  the  new  work.  It  is 
to  be  description,  a  descriptive  paragraph  with  a  topic  sentence  as  the 
beginning  and  a  general  statement  at  the  close. 

Then  we  took  a  picture  and  together  found  all  the  ideas  and  then  all 
the  events  that  we  could  see  in  the  picture.  These  we  listed  on  the 
board.  Next  we  picked  out  the  best  idea  to  be  used  in  the  topic  sentence, 
and  then  we  picked  out  the  second  best  idea  to  be  used  in  the  con- 
clusion. 

After  we  had  completed  this,  we  all  set  to  work  to  write  the  descrip- 
tion and  this  completed  the  hour.  I  like  the  way  of  assigning  new 
work  because  when  the  pupils  leave  the  class  they  know  exactly  what 
their  next  work  will  be  and  they  can  get  the  lesson  for  the  next  time. 
It  is  such  a  loss  of  time  not  to  make  the  assignment  clear  in  the  first 
place. 

Many  of  the  pupils  were  able  to  complete  the  description  in  the 
fifteen  minutes  allotted  to  it.  This  showed  that  they  worked  hard  in 
class. 


Henry  was  elected  chairman  to-day.  Henry  makes  a  very 
good  chairman.  He  presides  with  dignity.  I  think  he  is  the 
best  student  chairman  in  the  class.  To-day  he  was  very  strict 
with  the  class,  but  I  think  he  was  right,  for  the  class  was  very 


38 


DIRECTING   STUDY 


alive  this  morning  and  was  hard  to  hold.  Henry  did  exceedingly 
well.  He  woxild  pay  no  attention  to  the  pupils  unless  they 
raised  their  hands.  When  several  talked  at  once,  he  would  pay 
no  attention.  He  settled  debated  questions  with  justice  and 
decisiveness.  Henry  is  sometimes  a  little  sarcastic,  but  as  yet 
it  has  not  got  him  into  trouble  in  the  class. 
The  themes  read  were  about  the  fly. 


D— Fly 


E — Swat 


E — Now 


In  the  first  paragraph  we  were  to  describe  the  fly  in  some  term. 
The  second  was  to  be  exposition  on  "swatting"  the  fly.  The 
third  was  to  be  exposition  about  swatting  it  "now." 

Most  of  the  pupils  had  the  correct  idea.  But  the  themes  were 
very  different.  I  think  we  all  found  this  theme  very  difficult 
to  write.  It  must  be  too  short  and  too  compact.  I  think  the 
pupils  did  very  well  indeed  with  the  assignment. 

I  do  not  think  that  the  class  pays  as  good  attention  and  is 
more  noisy  when  the  subject  is  assigned.  The  themes  are  more 
or  less  alike  and  they  get  tired  of  listening  to  the  same  subject 
discussed  so  many  times. 

I  notice  that  Russel  is  beginning  to  have  a  theme  every  day 
now  and  he  volunteers  to  read.  He  also  comments  on  nearly 
every  theme  that  is  read. 

Marian  read  to-day  for  the  first  time  since  I  have  been  in  the 
class.  She  is  very  shy  and  does  not  read  well.  She  is  also 
very  sensitive  to  criticism.  She  should  read  oftener  and  perhaps 
she  would  get  over  it. 


To-day  we  each  wrote  a  theme  in  class.  We  took  our  sub- 
jects from  two  pictures — one  was  a  woman  setting  the  table, 
the  other  was  a  man  at  his  ofl&ce  desk. 


D 

E 

E 

C 

In  the  first  paragraph  we  explained  the  problem,  in  the  second 
we  wrote  a  paragraph  of  exposition  about  one  of  the  pictures, 


A  MANUAL  OF  SUGGESTIVE   PROCEDURES     39 

and  in  the  third  we  wrote  a  paragraph  of  exposition  about  the 
other  picture,  and  in  the  last  one  we  brought  both  pictures 
together  into  a  conclusion. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  hour  Mr.  P.  mentioned  that  the 
themes  were  to  be  handed  in  and  were  to  be  considered  as  tests. 
The  class  settled  down  to  work.  There  was  not  a  great  deal  of 
talking  and  soon  the  themes  began  to  be  finished.  I  wrote  as 
fast  as  I  could  in  order  to  get  mine  completed  that  I  might  assist 
in  correcting  those  of  the  pupils.  I  corrected  several.  They 
all  bore  signs  of  haste.  Many  words  were  misspelled.  One 
boy  (Harry)  capitalized  his  words  indiscriminately.  He  made 
sentences  without  either  verbs  or  subjects.  I  find  that  the  pupils 
read  stories  much  better  than  they  write  them.  They  write 
them  very  carelessly.  Many  of  them  do  not  seem  to  know  much 
about  sentence  structure,  and  many  other  things  about  gram- 
mar. 

It  is  hard  to  write  themes  in  class,  because  there  is  more  or 
less  noise  and  distraction.  Then,  too,  there  is  no  opportunity 
for  revising  and  reorganizing  them.  When  I  write  a  theme,  I 
often  have  to  write  it  all  over  after  the  first  writing,  and  re- 
organize the  whole  thing. 

We  began  on  an  entirely  new  kind  of  work  to-day.  The 
reading  of  "Julius  Cassar."  Mr.  P.  had  the  books  there.  This 
is  a  very  good  plan,  for  then  all  of  the  pupils  will  have  a  book 
when  necessary  and  they  will  all  be  uniform.  This  will  be  easier 
to  read  because  you  can  refer  to  pages.  It  is  always  desirable 
to  use  uniform  texts  in  the  classroom  if  it  is  at  all  p>ossible. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  hour  Mr.  P.  explained  about  our  voices 
and  why  reading  is  such  a  difficult  matter  and  what  we  can  do 
with  our  voices.  He  made  it  as  concrete  as  he  could  by  placing 
a  diagram  of  a  man's  head  and  neck  on  the  board,  putting  in 
the  lungs,  vocal  organs,  and  mouth.  Then  he  explained  how 
the  sound  is  produced  and  how  each  individual  sound  is  made. 
Then  he  explained  about  stress,  pitch,  and  amplitude. 

Weread  the  first  scene  of  "Julius  Caesar."  First  the  parts  were 
assigned  to  four  boys.  They  read  the  scene  and  we  discussed 
their  reading  and  gave  each  the  mark  that  we  thought  that  he 
deserved.  Then  four  girls  read  the  scene  and  we  marked  them. 
Then  last  we  seniors  read  it. 

The  class  as  a  whole  read  well.     Some  of  them  read  too  loudly 


40  DIRECTING  STUDY 

but  they  pronounce  well  and  read  with  expression.     I  think 
that  they  read  exceptionally  well  to  have  never  read  it  before. 

The  class  entered  on  this  work  with  a  will.     It  is  something 
new  and  they  were  interested. 


We  read  from  "  Julius  Caesar  "  this  morning.  It  was  expected 
that  we  read  Act  I  before  we  came  to  class,  but  I  do  not  think 
that  many  of  them  did.  They  mispronounced  words  that  they 
could  have  pronounced  if  they  had  read  it  before  coming  to 
class.  Many  of  them  just  read  words.  The  meaning  was  not 
clear  to  them,  and  so  they  could  not  make  it  clear  to  the  audience. 
I  think  that  on  the  whole  the  class  reads  well. 

Is  there  any  way  by  which  you  can  make  pupils  bring  their 
books  to  class  ?  If  they  do  not,  they  must  look  on  with  some  one 
else,  and  that  causes  comment  and  confusion.  And  yet  if  a 
pupil  does  not  have  a  book  he  will  get  nothing  out  of  the  lesson 
unless  he  does  look  on  some  one  else's  book.* 


We  are  still  reading  "Julius  Caesar."  The  class  is  still  inter- 
ested in  it  and  all  are  anxious  to  take  an  active  part.  They  are 
evidently  (most  of  them)  reading  it  over  before  they  come  to 
class.  They  try  to  do  as  well  as  they  can.  I  have  noticed  that 
some  of  them  (those  especially  that  sit  near  me)  are  very  im- 
patient with  those  who  do  not  read  over  their  lesson  before  they 
come  to  class.f 

They  all  enjoy  reading  and  that  acts  as  a  stimulus  to  make 
them  read  better.  Marshall  said  yesterday:  "I  can't  read  well, 
but  I  certainly  do  like  to."  He  is  always  very  anxious  to  take 
part  and  waves  his  hand  frantically.  Those  who  do  not  often 
read  themes  are  some  of  the  most  enthusiastic  persons  about 
this  reading.    I  suppose  that  shows  that  they  are  interested 

*  The  best  way  to  "make"  pupils  do  anything  is  to  frame  your  proce- 
dure so  thai  if  they  don't  do  it  they  will  have  cut  themselves  off  from 
some  interesting  class  performance  in  which  they  will  earnestly  wish 
they  had  a  part.  That  is,  bait  them,  don't  drive  them.  {Comment  by 
staff  teacher.) 

t  One  of  the  finest  results  of  this  kind  of  class  spirit.  (Comment  of 
staff  teacher.) 


A  MAIS  UAL  OF  SUGGESTIVE  PROCEDURES     41 

in  something.     Stanley  never  reads  a  theme,  but  he  does  very 
well  in  this. 


Miss  P.,  up  to  this  point  in  her  participation  course 
was  inclined  to  sit  on  the  bleachers  and  behave  as  a 
spectator.  Often  it  requires  weeks  to  convert  the  can- 
didate. It  is  very  difficult  in  some  cases  to  work  into 
the  game  as  a  participant.  Yet  it  is  our  conviction 
that  teacher-"  training "  institutions  should  undertake 
the  task  of  developing  teachers  who  will  refuse  to  rely 
on  status,  or  authority,  or  magic,  or  even  rationalizing 
as  a  basis  of  security.  We  need  teachers  of  a  demo- 
cratic temper,  teachers  who  are  courageous  enough 
to  stand  on  a  demonstrated  merit  in  terms  of  an 
honest  participation  with  free  minds  working  forward 
on  a  challenge  or  a  problem. 

Miss  P.,  below,  is  a  shining  example  of  the  old  order 
of  thinking.  The  comments  of  the  staff  teacher  in 
the  foot-notes  are  suggestive.  Suffice  it  to  say,  Miss 
P.  did  not  remain  a  spectator.  When  she  finally  began 
to  play  the  game,  the  whole  situation  and  outlook 
began  to  take  on  colorful  meaning. 


Miss  P.  is  talking  now: 

We  are  reading  "  Julius  Caesar "  rapidly  in  class.  Mr.  P.  or 
Miss  H.  assigns  pupils  to  take  the  various  parts  in  the  different 
acts  and  then  they  get  up  and  present  the  scene  or  act  in  a  half- 
dramatic  way.  No  time  is  spent  discussing  the  scene,  characters, 
or  the  action.  The  main  purpose  of  the  reading  seems  to  be  to 
get  the  story.  I  wonder  how  many  pupils  are  getting  the  story. 
Sometimes,  if  one  is  to  judge  by  their  reading,  it  seems  as  if 
they  weren't  getting  much  out  of  it.* 

*  Just  wait.     {Staff  teacher.) 


42  DIRECTING   STUDY 

Some  of  the  pupils  do,  however,  put  quite  a  bit  of  spirit  into 
their  reading  and  seem  to  enjoy  doing  it.  John  "waxed  elo- 
quent" especially  to-day,  but  he  ruined  Antony's  famous  speech 
by  giving  it  a  sarcastic  interpretation.  No  comment  was  made 
about  this  by  Miss  H.  I'm  hoping  later  the  play  will  be  studied 
more  intensely  and  the  pupils  will  be  saved  from  going  through 
life  thinking  that  Antony  was  sarcastic* 

I  see  Mr.  P.'s  idea  in  going  through  the  play  in  this  manner, 
but  I  wonder  whether  it  does  not  have  its  disadvantages  too. 
I  think  the  first  reading  of  such  a  play  should  be  a  little  bit 
more  supervised,  f 


XI 

This  illustration  of  procedure  is  also  presented  in 
the  language  of  a  college  senior,  participating  in  a  9  th- 
grade  class  in  English.  The  conditions  are  similar 
to  those  described  in  X. 

The  reader  will  find  an  extended  explanation  of  the 
procedure  of  which  this  is  a  part  on  page  160. 

Miss  E.  has  some  interesting  experiences  to  relate. 
The  W.  H.  S.  to  which  she  refers  in  these  two  diaries 

*Well,  now.  Miss  P.,  was  he?  John  thought  he  was;  you  think  he 
wasn't.  John's  thought  was  his  very  own;  no  one  told  him  how  to  think 
it.  Is  yours  your  own?  I  really  think  that  John's  power  to  Jtave  an 
opinion  is  worth  more  than  any  conventional  notion  about  Antony's 
speech  which  I  might  pass  over  to  him.  If  he's  wrong,  he  can  change 
his  idea.  And  maybe  he  didn't  convince  the  class  at  all.  They  think  ; 
they  don't  merely  suck  in  passively  what  some  one  tells  them.  But 
Miss  P.,  was  Antony  sarcastic?     (Comments  of  staff  teacher.) 

tThe  first  reading  of  any  work  of  literature  ought  to  be  a  joyous 
exploring  trip.  And  on  an  exploring  trip  one  doesn't  have  to  see  every- 
thing there  is  or  to  behold  in  their  proper  relationships  the  things  which 
one  does  see.  As  for  me,  deliver  me  from  the  "personally  conducted" 
Cook  tour  through  literature.  Ultimately  we'll  get  accurately  all  that 
any  ninth-year  pupil  needs  to  have  accurately.  I  don't  like  to  tell 
pupils  what  to  get  from  a  writing.     {Comments  of  staff  teacher.) 


A  MANUAL  OF  SUGGESTIVE  PROCEDURES     43 

is  the  demonstration  school  of  the  University  of  Wis- 
consin. 

Incidentally,  X  and  XI  serve  to  illustrate  some  real 
problems  in  preparing  teachers  for  this  new  procedure. 
These  two  young  ladies  of  the  i6th  grade,  allocated 
to  and  participating  with  a  class  of  Qth-grade  pupils 
at  work,  are  telling  us  the  most  amazing  things  about 
their  scholarship,  ability  to  cope  with  pupils  for  whom 
inhibitions  are  removed,  and  capacity  for  leadership. 
These  two  respondents  are  perhaps  among  the  top 
third  of  more  than  a  thousand  college  seniors  who  have 
participated  in  the  school  during  the  past  eight  years. 


Miss  E.  presents  two  of  her  forty  interesting  diaries,  as  fol- 
lows: 

To-day  we  had  a  quiz  upon  the  Bible  pictures  which  we  have 
been  studying  for  the  last  three  days.  I  did  not  have  time  to 
write  about  all  the  pictures  which  my  group  was  asked  to  write 
upon,  but  I  knew  all  those  which  I  had  time  for. 

This  picture  study  has  done  much  toward  making  me  see, 
clearer  than  ever  before,  how  important  a  part  in  every  child's 
life  individual  differences  play.  Now,  for  instance,  as  for  know- 
ing these  pictures,  Lazare  knew  practically  every  one  of  them 
upon  the  very  first  day,  while  the  rest  of  us  knew  many  less;  in 
fact,  some  of  the  pupils  knew  but  very  few  of  them.  This 
brings  out  that  very  important  point,  which  I  think  every 
teacher  should  know:  all  pupils  cannot  and  will  not  advance 
together;  that  is,  their  rate  of  advancement  and  of  grasping 
knowledge  wUl  be  different  in  every  case.  If  a  teacher  is  going 
to  give  every  pupU  a  fair  chance  to  develop,  this  is  one,  if  not 
the  most,  essential  point  which  she  should  know  and  understand. 
She  must  not  expect  that  every  pupil  will  progress  at  the  same 
speed  as  every  other  pupil,  for  this  will  never  be  true;  so  she  must 
conduct  the  class  in  such  a  way  that  all  these  differences  will 
be  met  and  provided  for,  otherwise  some  pupils  will  not  advance 
at  all.     Individual  differences  must  be  understood. 


44  DIRECTING  STUDY 

I  Jeel  that  the  method  used  in  the  W.  11.  S.  of  having 
the  University  seniors  go  right  into  the  class  and  do  the 
very  same  work  that  the  pupils  are  doing  is  a  great  im- 
provement over  the  old  method  of  mere  observation  and 
then  teachings  for  observation  can  never  give  a  college 
senior  what  actual  development  with  pupils  can  give  her. 
If  I  had  been  in  the  class  merely  observing  and  teaching 
without  preparing  the  very  same  lessons  as  the  pupils 
did,  I  would  never  have  understood  these  pupils  as  I 
do  to-day,  for  since  I  have  been  doing  everything  that  they 
have  been  doing  we  have  all  developed  together.  I  have 
come  to  see  their  good  and  excellent  qualities,  and  also 
their  weaker  ones.  I  have  been  able  to  compare  one 
pupil  with  the  other,  and  also  to  compare  all  of  them  with 
myself  in  regard  to  the  way  I  have  been  doing  their  work. 
In  other  words,  I  have  seen  development  and  have  taken 
part  in  it;  I  have  had  real,  true  experience  which  is  of 
greatest  possible  value  to  me.  I  have  also  come  to  under- 
stand my  own  weaknesses  and  have  learned  how  these 
same  weaknesses  have  been  met,  as  well  as  what  has  en- 
couraged me  and  what  has  discouraged  me. 


I  feel  that  I  will  now  be  able  to  apply  just  such  things,  as  well 
as  many  more,  in  my  own  work  to  make  it  most  successful.  To 
sum  this  all  up  in  the  fewest  possible  words,  I  may  say  that  I 
now  understand  boys  and  girls  better  than  I  have  ever  understood 
them  before,  and  I  have  been  led  to  see  that  if  each  pupil  is 
going  to  have  a  fair  chance  in  the  classroom,  the  teacher  must 
understand  every  one  of  them  as  separate  individuals  and  be 
able  to  meet  their  differences  as  they  arise.* 


*Miss  E.,  you  amaze  me.  For  three  weeks,  or  more,  you  sat  in 
my  class  and  were  essentially  an  outsider.  I  don't  think  that  you  once 
got  into  the  very  heart  of  anything  we  were  doing.     I  knew  that  you 


A  MANUAL  OF  SUGGESTIVE  PROCEDURES     45 

To-day  we  continued  the  picture  study  which  we  started 
Monday,  and  which  we  are  to  be  examined  upon  to-morrow. 
From  this  very  informal  study,  which  we  have  been  diverting 
ourselves  to  for  the  last  few  days,  I  have  come  to  see  that  there 
are  a  great  many  possibilities  as  to  the  way  in  which  boys  and 
girls  may  be  taught.  These  pupils  are  all  showing  the  greatest 
possible  interest  in  this  present  study  of  the  Bible.  Of  course 
I  know  it  is  something  entirely  different  from  what  they  have 
ever  had  before,  but  still  I  wonder  if  we  had  been  given  this  kind 
of  work  when  I  was  in  high  school  whether  or  not  we  would  have 
been  so  enthusiastic  about  it  as  these  pupils  seem  to  be.  This 
question  leads  me  to  take  this  opportunity  to  mention  another 
one  which  I  have  thought  about  time  after  time.  I  have  often 
asked  myself,  if  I  had  been  asked  to  conduct  my  class  while  in 
high  school,  could  I,  or  any  of  the  other  pupils,  have  been  able 
to  do  so  ?  And  again  I  wondered  whether  we  could  have  done 
so  if  we  had  been  given  the  same  kind  of  training  as  these  pupils 
are  getting. 

The  conditions  here  are  so  different  from  the  high-school 
conditions  with  which  I  am  acquainted,  and  the  pupils  seem  to 
offer  so  many  more  possibilities  than  my  fellow  pupils  did,  that 
I  cannot  keep  myself  from  continually  contrasting  this  method 
of  education  with  the  one  which  I  studied  under.  These  pupils 
are  so  anxious  to  talk  and  so  enthusiastic  about  all  their  work 
that  I  cannot  see  how  my  classes  in  high  school  coxild  have  been 
so  calm  and  quiet,  for  I  know  that  we  were  real  live  pupils  too. 
As  far  as  getting  our  lessons  was  concerned,  I  know  we  all  did 
that,  but  stiU  I  don't  think  that  we  ever  grasped  our  subjects 
as  many  of  these  pupils  do,  for  here  they  seem  to  grasp  every 
point  by  the  very  "  nape  of  the  neck,"  if  I  may  use  that  term.  I 
feel  that  this  experience  in  the  W.  H.  S.  has  been  of  very  great 
value  to  me,  for  it  has  opened  for  me  an  entirely  different  view 
of  teaching.  I  have  come  to  see  that  my  high  school  lagged 
behind  because  of  the  lack  of  force  upon  the  part  of  the  teachers. 

were  not  wasting  time,  but  were  coming  along — slowly,  very  slowly. 
I  feared,  however,  that  you  might  not  arrive  anjrwhere  within  your  all- 
too-short  term  with  us.  But  now  you  truly  amaze  me  and  arouse  me 
to  admiration;  you  are  now  in  some  respects  analyzing  yourself  and  the 
pupils  much  better  than  I  mj'self  can.  Splendid !  (Comment  of  staff 
teacher.) 


46  DIRECTING  STUDY 

I  feel  quite  safe  in  saying  that  a  teacher  makes  the  school.  If 
she  is  a  progressive  and  up-to-date  teacher,  her  classes  will  be 
such,  and  if  she  fails  in  this  respect,  the  school  will  fail  also.  I 
have  become  so  much  interested  in  Mr.  P.'s  method  of  teaching 
that  I  am  very  anxious  to  get  home  at  Christmas  time  so  that 
I  may  visit  my  high  school,  and  compare  the  work  done  there 
with  the  work  done  in  the  W.  H.  S. 

I  am  also  going  to  take  this  opportunity  again  of  saying 
that  I  know  that  these  few  weeks  have  done  much  to  develop 
me.  When  I  first  entered  this  class  I  felt  very  self-conscious; 
in  fact,  it  might  be  said  that  I  was  almost  afraid,  but  now  I  have 
come  to  feel  that  I  have  more  confidence  in  myself,  possibly  I 
have  not  yet  as  much  as  I  should  have,  but  I  feel  that  I  can  de- 
velop it  and  am  doing  so.  I  have  gotten  so  that  I  liked  to  be 
called  upon,  for  the  pupils  have  always  seemed  to  enjoy  what  I 
have  said,  especially  when  I  have  given  stories,  and  this  has 
helped  me  greatly.  As  far  as  knowing  the  different  things  that 
come  up  in  the  class  is  concerned,  I  have  often  felt  that  the  pupils 
knew  much  more  than  I,  but  now  it  seems  to  me  that  when  some 
big  question  has  come  up  that  my  knowledge  has  surpassed 
theirs  as  it  shovdd,  but  as  far  as  details  are  concerned,  I  think 
they  would  oftentimes,  and  have  in  that  case,  surpassed  me.* 


XII 

Some  one  has  discerningly  suggested  that  boys  and 
girls  would  rise  to  the  writing  of  themes  as  if  to  the 

*  Splendid.  You  are  thinking  straight  to  the  point.  I  like  par- 
ticularly your  way  of  comparing  the  W.  H.  S.  class  methods  and  pupils 
with  those  of  your  own  high  school  without  belittling  the  latter;  of 
course  you  were  yourself  there  an  earnest  student;  you  would  be  in  any 
school.  And  there  would  be  many  others.  But  the  difficulty  isn't 
with  your  kind  of  persons;  it  is  with  boys  overloaded  with  dynamic 
energy  and  girls  overloaded  with  emotion.  What  can  the  school  do 
with  them? — your  school? — this  school?  Our  attempt  is  to  devise 
procedure  which  will  help  a  good  high  school  (or  a  good  teacher)  to 
become  better  by  having  a  firmer  grip,  a  more  versatile  approach, 
and  a  more  productive  stimulus  toward  all  pupils.  (Commeni  of  staff 
teacher.) 


A  MANUAL  OF  SUGGESTIVE  PROCEDURES     47 

manner  bom  if  teachers  would  use  the  detective  story 
in  some  such  manner  as  follows:  Present  the  story  and 
situations  leading  up  to  the  development  of  the  de- 
nouement, and  then  let  the  pupils  unravel  or  discover 
the  plot,  finishing  the  story  in  their  own  ways. 

The  following  illustrative  procedure  suggests  rare 
possibilities.  In  a  social  science  class  (loth  grade) 
the  second  chapter  of  the  individual  books  which  the 
pupils  were  venturing  to  write — a  chapter  entitled 
"Printing  and  Its  Allied  Arts" — the  teacher  dictated 
a  part  of  a  story  under  the  caption,  ZZ.  Q4.  The 
pupils  took  the  dictation.  The  teacher  invented  his 
part  of  the  story.  More  or  less  may  be  dictated  in 
this  general  procedure.  Perhaps  a  sentence  or  a  pic- 
ture would  be  adequate  in  some  situations. 

1.  Part  of  what  the  teacher  dictated: 

I  was  seated  in  the  stack-room  of  the  library  recently,  deeply 
engrossed  in  reading  a  book  entitled  Comfort  Found  in  Good  Old 

Books at    a   late   hour    janitor 

campus  deserted    as  I  stood  in 

revery,  I  suddenly  heard  a  voice   "Hello  there, 

ZZ.  Q4 ;  you  weren't  gone  very  long  this  time,  were  you."    Answer 

"  No,  the  boy  that  took  me  out  

left  me  at  the  desk Had  finest  trip  in  all  my 

life."     Many  voices.    "  Tell  us  about  it."     

Books  on  printing  were  talking ZZ.  Q4 

"John  N.  took  me  out."     Mr.  B. 

said  it  cost  $600,000  to  build  our  home (Many 

interesting  places  are  suggested.) 

2.  At  this  point  the  pupils  began  to  write  their  own 
composition.  Only  one  sample  of  some  thirty  inter- 
esting productions  is  appended.  Richard  carried  on 
as  follows,  seeking,  it  would  seem,  only  the  "wages  of 
going  on"  in  the  spirit  of  the  real  hero. 


48  DIRECTING  STUDY 

There  are  30,000  volumes  of  newspapers  in  the  library ;  about 
100,000  pounds.  In  the  newspaper-room  an  old  lady  told  us 
several  things  about  early  papers.  The  earliest  paper  they  had 
was  published  in  1830.  You  remember  that  big  magazine  that 
so  many  girls  bring  to  the  reading-room.  The  Saturday  Evening 
Post,  1  think  they  call  it.  Well,  a  man  by  the  name  of  Keimer 
had  some  argument  with  a  man  named  Benjamin  Franklin. 
Keimer  learned  through  a  supposed  friend  of  Franklin's  that 
Franklin  intended  to  start  a  magazine  that  year.  He  decided  to 
revenge  himself  by  getting  ahead  of  Franklin  and  publishing  one 
himself.  When  Franklin  learned  of  this  action,  he  went  to  work 
for  a  newspaper  and  by  his  skilful  writings  succeeded  in  forcing 
Keimer  out  of  business.  He  then  bought  the  magazine  for  al- 
most nothing  and  changed  its  name  from  the  Penn.  Gazette  to  the 
name  it  now  bears. 

At  this  point  in  the  story,  a  thin  piping  voice  rose  from  a 
corner  in  the  shelf.  "I  remember,  I  remember.  I  was  a  young 
book  then  and  had  just  come  off  the  press."  "  What  do  you 
mean  by  interrupting  me?"  said  ZZ.  Q4.  "If  you  remember 
that,  you  don't  belong  up  here  anyway.  How  did  you  get  up 
here?"  "It's  not  my  fault,"  said  the  voice  from  the  corner. 
"  A  new  careless  librarian  put  me  up  here.  I'd  sooner  be  down- 
stairs anyway.  It  will  kill  an  old  book  like  me  if  I'm  kept 
awake  many  more  nights  by  your  noisy  chattering."  "Well, 
don't  interrupt  again,"  said  ZZ.  Q4,  and  he  continued  with  his 
tale. 

We  were  next  told  that  the  first  paper  to  be  printed  by  this 
company  was  the  New  England  Affaires,  in  1687.  The  next 
paper  was  the  Puhlick  Occurrences,  in  1690. 

From  the  newspaper-room  we  went  to  the  map-room,  where 
we  saw  the  signatures  of  George  Washington  and  those  of  the 
signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  They  had  a  letter 
from  a  man  named  Adams,  too,  said  ZZ.  Q4.  They  had  several 
early  maps  of  Wisconsin  there  also.  They  showed  how  little 
people  knew  about  this  territory.  There  was  a  map  made  by 
Joliet  which  pictured  the  Mississippi  regions  (1673).  The 
different  regions  which  were  occupied  by  various  tribes  were 
shown  on  another  map.  The  lady  in  charge  of  that  room  ex- 
plained that  Wisconsin  had  been  admitted  to  the  Union  in  1848 
and  that  in  1858  the  counties  were  indefinitely  laid  out. 


A   MANUAL   OF   SUGGESTIVE  PROCEDURES     49 

We  left  this  room  then  and  went  up  to  the  reading-room, 
but  on  the  way  out  we  glanced  into  a  smaller  room  in  which 
were  collected  books  and  papers  that  had  been  collected  or  copied 
by  Draper.  Up  in  the  reading-room  Mr.  Burke  told  us  that 
the  University  subscribed  to  1500  periodicals. 

We  left  this  room  then  and  went  to  the  stack-room,  where  we 
were  told  that  each  floor  had  a  capacity  of  50,000  volumes  of 
books.  There  are  five  floors  devoted  to  books.  I  learned  that 
we  never  need  fear  a  fire  here  because  the  building  was  con- 
structed fireproof.  The  University  hires  fourteen  people  at  each 
desk  to  handle  us,  and  they  get  very  tired  doing  it  when  the 
students  are  studying  for  a  quiz.  At  this  moment  a  ray  of  light 
came  through  the  window.  At  this  sign  of  coming  day  there  was 
a  sudden  rustle  and  then  all  was  still. 


Observations. — Here  is  an  excellent  example  of  fur- 
nishing the  mind  data  to  work  on,  of  developing  an  in- 
tellectual method  or  a  way  of  thinking,  and  of  stimu- 
lating curiosity.  Instead  of  asking  pupils  to  go  hence, 
write  a  theme  on  this  or  that  barren  topic — virtually 
asking  them  to  lift  themselves  by  pulling  on  their 
intellectual  boot-straps — or  exhorting  them  to  think 
in  a  vacuum,  the  procedure  starts  with  a  gripping  prob- 
lem and  a  supply  of  material  shaped  up  for  further 
elaboration.  Provocative  ideas  and  data  are  supphed, 
not  to  be  merely  memorized  or  accepted  as  such,  but 
to  be  used  in  a  learning  or  building  process.  It  is  not 
a  situation  in  which  a  lot  of  facts  are  learned  and  then 
a  command  given  to  go  off  and  try  to  think  and  write. 

It  is  again  an  application  of  the  essential  principles 
of  a  new  general  method  of  approach.  It  is  in  essence 
the  scientific  way.  Data  are  supplied.  A  way  of 
thinking  is  projected.  An  hypothesis  is  set  up.  As 
the  data  are  used,  the  way  of  thinking  is  redefined. 
The  goal  is  work  with  prospective  intention. 


60  DIRECTING   STUDY 

The  apprehension  that  pupils  will  not  know  things 
of  common,  social,  and  practical  import  need  not  arise 
if  information  is  used  in  developing  problem  procedures 
in  the  way  indicated  in  this  exercise.  The  essence  of 
the  problem  was  disclosed  by  Einstein  in  his  answer  to 
Edison's  adult  Binet-Simon  test.  Einstein  said  he 
could  not  answer  Edison's  questions,  but  he  said  he 
knew  how  to  go  about  it  to  find  the  answers  to  every 
one  of  them.  The  capacity  and  the  disposition  to  use 
information  would  seem  to  be  of  primary  importance, 
while  the  mere  possession  of  any  facts  would  seem  to  be 
quite  secondary  indeed. 

The  illustration  discloses  the  effectiveness  of  giving 
artistic  social  starters.  English  composition,  history, 
any  form  of  writing  offers  opportunities  for  this  sort  of 
creativeness.  Effective  freedom  and  the  release  of 
powers  can  be  best  worked  out  where  there  is  guided 
self-activity  within  a  controlled  environment. 

A  teacher  assisted  his  class  in  developing  the  situa- 
tions, color,  background,  and  spirit  of  the  poem 
"Barbara  Frietchie."  He  suggested  that  perhaps  the 
author  had  written  other  stanzas  than  those  appearing 
in  the  poem.  The  challenge  to  the  pupils  was  to  write 
an  additional  stanza,  or  so,  to  this  poem.  They  did  it 
admirably.  There  is  creativeness  in  such  a  procedure. 
It  is  a  valuable  thing  to  do,  now  and  again. 

XIII 

Film,  Slides,  Pictures,  Etc. 

The  value  of  the  film  as  an  educational  means  is  not  clear. 
There  is  need  of  careful  experimentation  in  its  use  in  connection 
with  courses  of  instruction.     Confident  acceptance  of  the  va- 


A   MANUAL   OF   SUGGESTIVE   PROCEDURES     51 

lidity  and  value  of  the  film  is  met  by  honest  scepticism  in  many 
quarters. 

Perhaps  a  statement  of  the  problem  is  about  all  we  can  safely 
venture  at  this  time.  The  passive  attitude  before  the  film  may 
be  related  to  the  passivity  of  the  "learner"  in  many  other 
situations.  In  other  words,  the  criticism  against  the  moving 
picture  on  the  ground  that  visual  instruction  makes  no  demand 
upon  the  audience  to  do  any  vital  sort  of  creative  thinking  is  an 
indictment  that  may  be  lodged  against  many  other  forms  of 
objective  representations  of  reality.  Plato  was  impatient  with 
those  who  urged  the  use  of  geometrical  figures.  It  seemed  to 
him  to  be  an  unnecessary  accompaniment  to  pure  thinking. 
The  student  before  a  lecturer  may  take  his  mental  siesta  just 
as  certainly  as  the  movie  fan.  The  printed  page  is  too  often 
viewed  with  a  high  degree  of  passivity.  The  reader  may  be  a 
victim  of  the  dogma  of  acceptance,  merely  following  the  printed 
page  with  as  little  productive  thinking  as  the  person  who  follows 
the  film  presentation.  Paying  attention  may  be  a  passive,  me- 
chanical, inert  acceptance  of  explanation.  To  parrot  abstractions 
and  to  absorb  opinions  may  result  in  nothing  more  than  idle 
revery.  The  issue  in  all  these  situations  is  just  this:  Does  the 
individual  behave  as  a  recipient  or  a  reacting  agent?  Is  he  a 
spectator  or  a  participant?  The  recitation,  the  lecture,  the 
printed  page,  the  picture,  the  diagram,  the  stereopticon,  the 
film  may  all  be  considered  in  one  of  these  aspects  or  the  other. 
The  film,  like  any  other  objective  means,  may  or  not  be  used 
in  a  sound  educational  way.  It  should  be  mentioned,  in  pass- 
ing, that  it  is  not  essential  in  every  situation  that  values  be  re- 
duced to  linguistic  categories.  There  are  educational  values 
lying  in  the  realm  of  enjoyment  and  appreciation. 

The  constructive  attitude  toward  aU  these  accompaniments  of 
thinking  from  the  simplest  diagrammatic  representation  to  the 
film  is  to  be  found  in  relating  these  potential  instruments  of 
education  to  the  individual  as  a  reacting  agent.  Otherwise 
we  may  have  a  mere  verbalism  with  no  urge  to  creative  think- 
ing. The  printed  page  is  included  in  the  series.  There  may 
be  an  illusion  in  reading  words  or  following  a  lecture  just  as  in 
the  case  of  sitting  in  front  of  a  moving  picture.  What  we  hope 
to  say  here  is  that  a  common  problem  runs  throughout  the  whole 
series  of  objective  symbols  used  to  represent  ideas. 


52  DIRECTING   STUDY 

Examples  of  procedure  in  this  general  field. 

(a)  A  teacher  of  English  has  made  excellent  use  of  pictures 
collected  from  such  periodicals  as  the  Saturday  Evening  Post, 
Ladies'  Home  Journal,  Country  Gentleman.  When  the  challenge 
was  on  to  write  two-character  stories,  such  pictures  as  the  old 
man  in  the  attitude  of  conveying  to  his  pal  the  size  of  the  fish 
he  was  about  to  catch,  David  Harum  in  the  horse-trading  scene 
(an  old  man  and  a  boy),  will  prove  suggestive  after  a  mode  of 
building  such  stories  is  developed.  The  picture  and  the  cartoon 
can  be  utilized  in  productive  ways  in  story  writing. 

(b)  In  geometry  pupils  should  trace  figures  in  the  air  now  and 
again  to  make  sure  that  the  figures  drawn  on  paper  or  black- 
board do  not  become  excess  baggage.  A  great  deal  of  motion 
can  be  put  into  mathematics.  Seeing  the  figures  with  eyes 
closed  is  an  excellent  practice  in  thinking  in  geometrical  cate- 
gories. A  reliable  thinker  can  make  a  clear  demonstration  with 
a  poor  figure  to  "talk  to."  There  is  a  place  for  an  accurate 
drawing  of  geometrical  figures,  but  it  is  not  the  most  important 
matter. 

(c)  A  similar  suggestion  may  be  made  about  the  use  of  the 
diagram  in  English  grammar. 

(d)  In  the  use  of  slides  and  stereopticon  sets,  a  very  general 
practice  is  now  being  followed  in  having  the  pupils  themselves 
work  up  a  lantern  talk.  They  select  their  own  material  and 
are  responsible  for  its  presentation.  Some  four  or  five  pupils  may 
co-operate  in  presenting  the  pictures.  They  should  be  encour- 
aged to  give  their  work  orally  without  committing  to  memory 
the  phrasing  which  they  employ.  It  is  a  good  plan,  as  a  rule, 
to  have  all  members  of  the  class  held  responsible  for  discussion 
of  the  topic  thus  presented.  There  are  many  possibilities  in 
this  procedure.  One  boy  made  a  study  of  sanitation  in  a  class 
in  civic  biology.  He  collected  pictures  as  far  back  as  ancient 
Greece  and  combined  them  in  a  presentation  of  the  conditions 
in  his  own  city,  using  his  camera  to  complete  the  series. 

(e)  This  experiment  in  the  use  of  the  film  was  conducted  in 
connection  with  English  literature.  The  film  used  was  "The 
Lady  of  the  Lake."  Two  class  groups  in  English  began  the 
study  of  it  a  week  before  the  film  was  presented.  Two  other 
class  groups  began  the  class  work  on  it  just  after  the  running  of 
the  film.     It  is  not  possible  to  speak  with  certitude  about  the 


A  MANUAL  OF  SUGGESTIVE  PROCEDURES     53 

relative  values  of  the  film  in  these  two  situations.  For  the 
former  groups  the  film  appeared  to  be  an  excellent  and  vivid 
summarizing  of  "The  Lady  of  the  Lake."  No  doubt  the  situa- 
tions, scenery,  and  characters  were  appreciated  and  appraised 
much  more  vitally  for  those  pupils  in  the  first  groups  than  was 
the  case  for  the  second  groups.  On  the  other  hand,  it  seems 
valid  to  assume  that  the  pupils  who  began  their  work  on  "The 
Lady  of  the  Lake"  with  the  film  presentation  moved  forward  in 
the  reading  of  the  poem  with  a  keener  interest  and  a  better  under- 
standing than  the  former.  It  is  impossible  to  compare  these 
values.  Obviously  the  same  pupil  could  not  report  in  both  situa- 
tions. One  may  be  strongly  tempted  to  dismiss  this  particular 
aspect  of  the  experiment  or  seek  to  set  up  a  scale  of  values  and 
indulge  in  the  measurement  movement.  The  only  point  of 
interest  we  shall  urge  at  this  juncture  is  to  assert  that  in  both 
situations  the  film  seemed  to  be  a  valuable  instrument.  The  use 
of  it  in  either  way  can  be  justified.  The  main  fact  is  obvious: 
the  pupils  made  an  essentially  different  use  of  the  film  in  this 
setting  from  that  of  the  commercial  playhouse.  They  tied  it  up 
in  a  vital  way  in  a  course  of  instruction  and  made  it  serve  a  pur- 
pose beyond  that  of  the  spectator.  It  is  again  recognized  that 
such  a  film  may  serve  a  legitimate  educational  purpose  when 
given  out  of  context  at  the  movie  house.  The  general  effect  may 
be  wholesome  and,  in  fact,  contributory  to  the  direct  educational 
processes  in  the  implicit  forms  of  enriching  life  through  enjoy- 
ment and  appreciation. 

(J)  The  film  has  far-reaching  potential  usefulness  in  the 
study  of  geography,  history,  chemical  and  physical  processes, 
and  manufacturing.  The  physiographic  features,  beauties  of 
nature,  river  systems,  cities,  modes  of  living,  etc.,  are,  beyond 
question,  presented  in  the  film  with  high  skill  and  incalculable 
value.  So  in  history.  The  entire  series  of  processes  involved 
in  the  production  of  any  one  of  a  thousand  substances  "created" 
by  the  chemist,  and  the  phenomenal  side  of  all  sorts  of  revela- 
tions by  the  physicist  and  other  scientists,  can  be  gripped  up  in 
a  film  and  used  either  as  a  summarizing  statement  after  study 
and  experimentation  or  as  a  projected  picture  antedating  an 
interesting  adventure  into  some  one  of  these  enticing  fields.  In 
either  situation  the  film  can  be  utilized  to  tremendous  educa- 
tional advantage.     Manufacturing  processes  and  factory  produc- 


54  DIRECTING  STUDY 

tion  are  thrown  on  the  screen  everywhere.  More  explicit  use  of 
all  such  material  may  be  made  by  a  redirection  of  instructional 
work  in  such  ways  as  to  make  possible  direct  connections  with 
this  new  and  potential  tool  of  education.  We  are  still  pioneering 
in  this  new  field. 

It  seems  reasonable  to  suppose  that  only  one  opinion 
about  the  film  as  an  educational  instrument  should  be 
given  consideration.  If  it  is  used  in  any  of  the  ways 
suggested,  it  may  be  regarded  as  an  invaluable  instru- 
ment. Perhaps  something  akin  to  this  conclusion 
should  be  said  about  the  lecture.  It,  too,  may  be 
employed  in  the  secondary  school  to  decided  advantage. 
The  point  to  be  safeguarded  is  to  see  to  it  that  it  is 
used  as  a  means  in  clarifying  or  economizing  the  pupil's 
productive  thinking.  The  lay  of  the  land,  a  schemati- 
zation  of  the  search,  a  setting-up  of  the  problem,  a 
stmimarization  of  the  work  of  a  challenge  for  perspec- 
tive— any  one  of  these  objectives  may,  now  and  again, 
be  best  realized  by  a  vital  lecture  procedure.  The 
pupil  may  be  just  as  passive  in  the  lecture  as  before 
the  film.  If  the  pupil  is  transformed  from  the  spec- 
tator to  the  participant,  or  from  the  recipient  to  a 
reacting  agent,  the  evils  of  both  film  and  lecture  disap- 
pear. 

XIV 

General  Science,  8th  Grade, 
Junior  High  School 

Assignment. — Exercises,  questions,  or  problems  to  be  worked 
out  by  the  pupils  both  in  class  and  out  of  class. 

Illustration. — (One  exercise  to  illustrate  the  danger  of  accepting 
an  answer  and  the  possibilities  of  creative  thinking.) 


A  MANUAL  OF  SUGGESTIVE  PROCEDURES     55 

I.  "Will  it  take  more  heat  to  start  a  ton  of  coal  than  a  shovel- 
ful?" 

Procedure. — A  boy  of  twelve  began  his  task  at  home  by  asking 
his  aunt  (a  teacher,  formerly)  what  the  answer  to  the  problem 
was.  In  a  very  natural  way  the  answer  was  about  to  be  passed 
on.  It  happened  that  a  third  person  was  present.  He  sug- 
gested a  more  productive  procedure  than  telling. 

"Now  talk  to  your  question." 

"Read  it  again  very  carefully." 

The  boy  read  it  slowly.  Then  he  began  to  "talk"  to  it.  "I 
should  think  a  ton  of  coal  would  make  more  heat  than  a  shovel- 
ful," said  he.  "Now,  read  it  again,  and  ask  yourself  whether 
what  you  say  and  what  you  read  have  any  connection." 

A  rereading  brought  the  emphasis  on  the  word  start.  "Oh," 
he  said,  "I  see."  "It  would  not  take  any  more  heat  to  start  a 
ton  than  a  shovelful.  I  could  prove  it.  I  can  take  a  match 
and  a  bit  of  kindling  and  start  each  pile  of  coal  with  the  same 
amount  of  kindling.  The  amount  of  heat  in  each  of  the  two 
matches  used  to  start  the  kindling  in  each  case  would  be  the 
same.  The  heat  in  the  two  heaps  of  kindling  would  be  the 
same.  And  therefore  the  amount  of  heat  required  to  start' 
the  two  heaps  of  coal  of  different  size  would  be  the  same.  I  think 
I  have  a  correct  answer.  Of  course  the  conditions  would  have 
to  be  the  same." 

Observations. — (i)  The  boy  could  have  readily  assimilated 
so  much  as  his  queasy  stomach  would  bear  out  of  the  predi- 
gested  material  (answer)  gratuitously  offered.  Ready-made 
answers  can  be  transmitted.  Pupils  can  learn  to  parrot  ab- 
stractions, but  they  will  never  become  scientific-minded  by  that 
method.  They  can  develop  a  marvellous  capacity  to  repeat 
other  peoples'  opinions.  They  will  not  become  cultured  in 
any  true  sense  by  so  doing. 

(2)  The  home-study  problem  is  given  a  new  emphasis  in  this 
boy's  experience.  Work  well  done  in  class  was  about  to  be 
nullified  in  home  study  by  mere  passing  on  of  answers.  This 
boy  was  directed  in  his  thinking  by  a  turn  of  events. 

(3)  The  correct  answer  in  a  thinking  process  is  of  minor  im- 
portance. In  fact,  an  incorrect  answer  is  not  to  be  regarded 
as  educational  tragedy  in  a  building,  creative  process.  The 
penchant  for  "correct"  answers  has  led  to  trick  training.     Trick 


56  DIRECTING   STUDY 

pupils  are  not  being  educated  in  any  true  sense.  The  capacity 
merely  to  give  responses  of  approved  sort  upon  signals  is  cer- 
tainly not  our  highest  hope  for  the  human  mind.  The  puzzle 
stage  of  education  is  solemnly  perpetuated  out  of  a  false  empha- 
sis upon  education  as  knowing.  We  have  perhaps  enough  of 
knowledge  about  some  things,  but  altogether  too  meagre  ac- 
quaintance with  vital  matters  of  life  and  culture.  The  boy  in 
our  illustration  was  developing  power  to  think  in  creative  terms 
in  a  process  of  "fumbling  and  success."  To  be  able  to  arrive 
at  a  tentative  answer  to  the  question  and  to  be  able  to  support 
that  tentative  position  with  some  "real"  reasons  are  steps  the 
thinker  takes  in  his  experimental  questing.  The  correct  answer 
is  not  the  crucial  matter  in  this  learning  stage. 

Summary. — The  purpose  of  these  illustrative  pro- 
cedures will  be  realized  if  they  prove  suggestive  and 
provocative.  "Methods,"  as  ordinarily  conceived,  are 
not  offered.  Further  examples  are  included  throughout 
the  argument  in  the  following  chapters. 

It  would  be  easy  to  indulge  in  destructive  criticism. 
That  is  not  our  purpose  in  any  statement  that  may  seem 
to  be  an  indictment  of  our  educational  establishment. 
Every  illustrative  exercise  is  intended  to  reveal  some 
ways  of  removing  inhibitions  to  thinking,  stimulating 
curiosity,  overcoming  defense  reactions  and  fear,  or 
substituting  for  various  forms  of  protective  coloring  a 
genuine  work  spirit. 

Instead  of  setting  up  a  least  common  denominator 
of  common  knowledge  and  institutionalized  values  for 
a  going  machine  of  assimilation  leading  to  imiformity, 
we  have  sought  to  present  a  truer  ideal  of  American  life 
by  developing  a  workable  programme  within  a  highest 
common  multiple  that  expresses  a  genuine  community 
of  interests  for  any  working  class  group.  In  the  latter 
view  we  frankly  choose  to  be  dissimilar.     Every  pupil 


A  MANUAL  OF  SUGGESTIVE   PROCEDURES     57 

is  a  person,  not  a  number.  Out  of  a  guided  self-ex- 
pression, out  of  a  creative  self-activity,  co-operations 
are  secured.  No  illusion  is  entertained  about  develop- 
ing thinking  capacity,  curiosity,  initiative  co-operative- 
ness,  etc.  Most  of  these  desiderata  will  emerge  if 
inhibitions  are  removed  and  a  controlled  environment 
is  fabricated  in  which  effective  freedom  is  made  possible. 
The  disposition  to  accept  our  system  of  education 
uncritically,  or  the  disposition  to  be  critical  and  not 
constructive  concerning  it,  is  dangerous.  The  problem 
we  are  facing  is  not  merely  a  classroom  problem. 
Parents  are  vitally  concerned  in  the  education  of  their 
children.  They  do  not  deliberately  become  accom- 
plices in  a  system  of  life  and  schooling  that  unwittingly 
**  buries  curiosity  alive." 

Beginning  with  the  kindergarten,  it  provides  us  (parents)  a 
few  hours'  relief  from  our  responsibility  toward  our  youngsters. 
Curiously,  the  Americans  most  given  to  this  evasion  are  the 
Americans  most  inveterately  sentimental  about  the  "kiddies," 
and  most  loath  to  employ  the  nursery  system,  holding  it  some- 
how an  undemocratic  invasion  of  the  child's  rights.  Then 
somewhere  in  the  primary  grades  we  begin  to  feel  that  we  are 
purchasing  relief  from  the  burden  of  fundamental  instruction. 
Ourselves  mentally  lazy,  abstracted,  and  genuinely  bewildered 
by  the  flow  of  questions  from  one  mouth,  we  blithely  refer  that 
awakening  curiosity  to  a  harassed  young  woman,  probably 
less  informed  than  we  are,  who  has  to  answer,  or  silence,  the 
questions  of  from  a  score  or  threescore  mouths.  So  begins  the 
long  throttling  of  curiosity  which  later  on  will  baffle  the  college 
instructor,  who  will  sometimes  write  a  clever  magazine  essay 
about  the  complacent  ignorance  of  his  pupils.* 

The  alternative  is  not  to  abolish  the  kindergarten, 

school,  or  college.     The  challenge  to  forward-looking 

*  Britten,  Clarence,  Civilization  in  the  United  States.  School  and  Col- 
lege Life,  p.  113. 


58  DIRECTING  STUDY 

thinkers  is  to  build  a  new  technic  by  which  it  will 
be  possible  to  release  the  powers  of  the  human  mind. 
A  redirection,  not  a  destruction,  of  educational  means 
is  imperative.  We  shall  attempt  to  present  both  the 
plea  and  a  programme  for  a  new  general  method  in 
terms  of  the  learner  transformed  from  a  recipient  to 
a  reacting  agent  and  converted  from  a  spectator  to  a 
participant.  We  shall  endeavor  to  locate  the  responsi- 
bility of  parents,  supervisors,  teachers,  and  pupils  in  a 
community  of  interests.  The  organized  means  of  edu- 
cation— the  system  itself,  subject-matter,  methods — 
will  need  to  be  vitally  related  to  the  proposed  procedure. 


.^iJ* 


CHAPTER  II 

ADMINISTRATION   OF  DIRECTING  STUDY 

A  New  Point  of  View. — Supervised  study  has  be- 
come a  familiar  term  in  recent  discussions  of  high- 
school  education.  The  literature  of  method  is  replete 
with  contributions  on  the  various  phases  of  teaching 
pupils  how  to  study.  "Directing  Activity,"  conceived 
as  a  means  of  developing  a  new  general  method,  is  the 
real  title  of  this  presentation.  "Directing  Study"  is  a 
compromise  title  that  will  serve  to  emphasize  the  fact 
that  the  effort  here  is  to  present  a  working  basis  for  a 
more  productive  classroom  procedure  than  that  which 
usually  obtains  under  the  recitation  system.  Super- 
vised study  is  too  narrowly  interpreted  to  serve  this 
purpose. 

One  of  the  most  hopeful  departures  in  these  dis- 
cussions is  the  evident  tendency  to  formulate  methods 
of  teaching  upon  a  study  of  the  learning  processes  of 
children.  The  conventional  emphasis  has  been  upon  the 
requirements  of  the  logical  organization  of  subject- 
matter,  irrespective  of  the  subjective  interests  and  ex- 
periences of  the  learner. 

Suggestive  experiments  have  been  made,  the  results 
of  which  are  illuminating  and  have  already  begun  to 
influence  educational  practice.  As  an  example  of  the 
effect  of  this  type  of  analysis  and  experimentation  it  is 
interesting  to  note  the  increasing  disfavor  in  which 
the  term  recitation  is  held.     Hearing  lessons  recited  is 

59 


60  DIRECTING   STUDY 

coming  to  be  considered  stupid,  mechanical,  deadly 
business.  Home  study,  for  the  most  part,  is  a  myth 
in  so  far  as  those  pupils  who  need  it  most  are  concerned. 
The  practice  of  assigning  lessons  in  a  perfunctory  man- 
ner with  the  expectation  that  somehow  the  lessons  will 
be  mastered  is  the  corollary  of  the  recitation  system 
which  has  been  perpetuated  in  the  American  school 
under  the  inertia  of  tradition. 

Supervised  study,  intelligently  directed,  bids  fair  to 
become  the  means  by  which  a  new  and  vital  concep- 
tion of  classroom  activities  is  to  be  gained.  On  ac- 
count of  the  various  uses  of  the  term  it  is  thought  best 
to  limit  the  scope  of  directing  study  to  that  proce- 
dure in  the  regular  classroom  which  directs  the  ener- 
gies of  pupils  working  forward.  If  a  distinction  is  drawn 
between  the  recitation,  as  such,  and  directing  study — 
these  two  activities  constituting  the  major  aspects  of 
the  class  period — it  will  readily  appear  that  the  latter 
is  the  more  important  when  productively  developed 
and  controlled.  However,  in  this  presentation  and 
interpretation  of  supervised  study,  no  such  separation 
is  contemplated.  Directing  activity  (or  study)  is 
meant  to  be  descriptive  of  a  totally  different  concep- 
tion of  the  purpose  of  the  classroom  than  that  which 
is  meant  by  the  recitation. 

Before  raising  the  problems  suggested  in  the  ad- 
ministration and  development  of  directing  study,  it 
may  be  well  to  point  out,  in  passing,  other  uses  of  the 
term  supervised  study. 

The  General  Study  Room  Merely  an  Administra- 
tive Device. — In  all  high  schools  having  differentiated 
curriculums  it  is  necessary  to  make  provision  for  the 
free  or  unassigned  periods  which  fall  to  pupils  some- 


^vhj 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  DIRECTING  STUDY      61 


at  promiscuously.  The  general  study  room  or  study 
rooms  are  supervised  either  by  a  suitable  person  em- 
ployed for  that  specific  purpose  or  by  members  of  the 
instructional  staff.  Obviously,  the  pupils  are  concerned 
with  their  several  individual  studies.  The  only  posi- 
tive direction  of  study  would  necessarily  be  general 
in  character.  For  the  most  part  routine  factors  are 
controlled,  such  as  keeping  the  room  orderly,  manag- 
ing the  work  of  pupils  in  a  general  way,  seeing  to  it 
that  each  one  attends  to  his  own  affairs.  In  so  far  as 
this  free  period  supplements  home  study  it  is  valuable 
and  contributes  definitely  to  the  efficient  management 
of  the  school.  Yet,  as  a  rule,  the  general  study  room 
is  only  a  means  intended  to  minister  to  the  effective 
internal  organization  of  the  school,  rather  than  toward 
the  solution  of  the  problem  of  teaching  pupils  how 
best  to  use  their  powers  in  study.  In  rare  cases  a 
supervisor  of  such  a  group  might  be  competent  to 
assist  a  large  number  of  pupils  in  their  individual 
work. 

It  is  conceivable  that  a  teacher  of  conspicuous 
ability,  broad  experience,  and  technical  skill  could 
direct  a  relatively  small  group  of  pupils  in  a  general 
study  period  in  which  different  subjects  were  being 
pursued.  This  has  been  done  successfully  in  isolated 
instances.  Certain  general  directions  are  given  to 
assist  pupils  in  studying  any  kind  of  lesson.  A  teacher, 
supervising  study  in  this  manner,  may  be  able  to  give 
specific  and  detailed  assistance  to  pupils  in  many  dif- 
ferent courses,  depending  upon  the  extent  of  his  experi- 
ence and  his  breadth  of  scholarship.  There  is  also  in 
this  connection  valid  ground  for  the  assumption  that 
generalized  habits  of  application  may  be  developed.    As 


62  DIRECTING  STUDY  . 

...  •# 

a  general  administrative  proposition,  however,  there 

is  little  to  be  accomplished  through  the  general  study 
room  in  the  development  of  a  special  technic  of  super- 
vising study.  The  general  study  room  is  set  apart  as 
a  convenient  place  for  pupils  to  spend  their  free  periods. 
It  will  be  continued  as  a  means  to  a  definite  end  quite 
apart  from  the  issue  of  directing  study  as  presented 
in  this  discussion.  Much  valuable  work  may  be  ac- 
complished by  pupils  in  the  study  period  under  the 
usual  type  of  supervision. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  the  best  results  can  be  secured 
from  this  general  approach.  The  hiatus  between  sug- 
gestion and  performance  must  be  bridged  in  the  class- 
room. No  permanent  improvement  in  teaching  pupils 
how  to  study  is  to  be  expected  until  teachers  grip  the 
problem  and  develop  a  teaching  procedure  that  in- 
tegrates directing  study  with  other  essential  aspects 
of  the  class  period. 

The  Weaknesses  of  the  Conference  Hour  Device. — 
The  conference  hour  is  sometimes  utilized  for  the  pur- 
pose of  assisting  pupils  in  getting  their  lessons.  The 
limitations  of  this  device  are  readily  apparent.  The 
pupil  failing  in  his  work  or  in  need  of  making  up  lessons 
is  a  candidate  for  the  conference  period.  The  methods 
of  work  of  the  pupils  are  not  scrutinized.  The  pre- 
vailing task  is  to  make  up  lessons.  The  test  applied 
is  informational.  A  knowledge  of  the  subject-matter 
is  exacted.  In  the  present  writing,  of  course,  no  criti- 
cism is  being  urged  against  the  acquisition  of  informa- 
tion. The  only  point  raised  in  this  connection  is  that 
the  conference  hour  is  not  directed  explicitly  toward 
the  development  of  better  habits  of  study.  More- 
over, most  teachers  pay  little  attention  to  the  methods 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  DIRECTING  STUDY      63 

of  work  of  the  good  pupils,  little  realizing  that  it  is 
just  as  important  to  make  their  work  increasingly  ef- 
ficient as  it  is  to  be  solicitous  about  the  pupils  whose 
work  is  unsatisfactory.  The  conference  hour  offers 
a  limited  opportunity  to  study  the  methods  which 
pupils  employ  in  their  work,  not  only  to  discover  their 
difficulties,  but  also  to  direct  them  in  the  more  pro- 
ductive and  economical  use  of  their  time  and  energy — 
including  pupils  of  superior  attainment  as  well  as  those 
of  inferior  ability. 

No  Existing  Devices  Really  Vital. — Another  adminis- 
trative device  is  worthy  of  brief  mention.  It  is  the 
plan  of  arranging  a  free  period  some  time  in  the  school- 
day  to  which  all  the  class  sections  of  each  class  period 
report,  respectively,  once  during  each  week.  For  ex- 
ample, the  class  sections  in  the  first  period  of  the  day 
report  on  Mondays,  not  only  to  their  regular  classes, 
but  also  to  the  same  teachers  in  the  free  hour.  The 
class  sections  in  the  second  period  in  like  manner  re- 
port on  Tuesdays,  etc.  This  plan  enables  the  teachers 
to  meet  their  pupils  one  extra  period  each  week  in 
small  sections  under  classroom  conditions.  Oppor- 
tunity is  offered  to  develop  directed  study  in  a  limited 
way.  There  are  complications  in  this  plan,  but  on 
the  whole  it  is  more  promising  than  the  ordinary  con- 
ference hour  in  that  all  pupils  of  the  class  section  are 
included  in  the  plan. 

There  are  other  special  types  of  practice  and  ex- 
perimentation intended  to  aid  pupils  in  their  study, 
such  as  the  Batavia  plan,  controlled  home  study,  the 
double-consecutive  period,  no  home-study  assignments, 
some  features  of  which  are  incorporated  in  the  follow- 
ing discussion. 


64  DIRECTING  STUDY 

A  New  Procedure  Imperative. — However  desirable 
these  various  proposals  and  practices  may  prove  to 
be  in  the  development  of  improved  habits  of  study — 
and  no  doubt  conditions  will  continue  to  be  such  as 
to  render  some  form  of  general  supervision  necessary — 
the  conviction  is  growing  that  teachers  themselves 
must  become  increasingly  responsible  for  the  eco- 
nomical and  productive  application  of  the  principles 
and  methods  of  directing  study  interpreted  in  terms 
of  a  new  general  method.  Any  external  means,  cal- 
culated to  control  study,  may  be  conducive  to  better 
recitation  procedure  and  also,  for  some  pupils,  a  far 
better  environment  for  systematic  study  may  be  pro- 
vided. Much  might  be  said  in  support  of  any  scheme 
which  is  designed  to  foster  independent  application, 
personal  responsibility,  and  individual  initiative  in  the 
pursuit  of  intellectual  matters.  It  is  not  the  purpose 
to  enter  into  the  controversy  on  transfer  of  training; 
nevertheless,  it  is  difficult  to  think  of  educational 
processes  without  including  some  such  by-products 
as  habits  of  concentration,  habits  of  study,  attitudes 
toward  work.  If  pupils  are  to  be  taught  how  to  study, 
the  implication  is  that  a  more  or  less  permanent  change 
is  to  be  effected  in  their  habits  of  study.  Whether  the 
principles  and  conditions  under  which  the  best  results 
are  attained  in  particular  courses  of  study  can  be  ac- 
quired by  formal  presentation  and  study  and  subse- 
quently generalized  is  a  moot  question  and  may  be 
dropped  at  once.  The  point  of  departure,  herein  pre- 
sented, lies  in  the  practicability  of  the  plan  of  having 
all  teachers  develop  the  essential  features  of  directing 
study  as  a  new  classroom  procedure.  Instead  of  rely- 
ing upon  external  devices,  teachers  are  to  be  given  op- 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  DIRECTING  STUDY      65 

portunity  to  redirect  the  recitation  through  internal 
readjustments — partly  administrative,  partly  and  vi- 
tally instructional.  If  directing  study  is  to  be  devel- 
oped as  a  constructive  and  cardinal  factor  in  classroom 
procedure,  certain  modifications  in  organization  as 
well  as  in  instruction  are  deemed  necessary  and  de- 
sirable. 

A  Longer  Class  Period. — The  customary  class  period 
of  forty  minutes  (net)  is  proving  inadequate  in  the 
development  of  a  new  type  of  class  period.  A  double 
consecutive  period  (approximately  eighty-five  min- 
utes) is  objectionable  as  a  general  administrative  prac- 
tice on  the  ground  that  an  increase  in  the  instructional 
staff  is  required  beyond  that  which  the  great  majority 
of  high  schools  can  support. 

A  conservative  demand  would  fix  this  increase  in 
the  instructional  staff  at  one-fourth  to  one-fifth  of  the 
present  staff.  This  estimate  is  based  upon  the  prob- 
ability that  a  teacher  would  be  assigned  four  or  five 
class  sections  daily,  instead  of  six  under  the  single 
short  class  period.  Waiving  the  fact  that  an  increas- 
ing demand  for  better  teaching  would  arise  and  there- 
fore a  correspondingly  larger  budget,  it  seems  inad- 
visable to  urge  the  adoption  of  the  double-consecutive 
period  for  all  courses. 

It  is  doubtful,  too,  whether  teachers  generally  would 
be  able  to  conduct  the  work  of  pupils  profitably  for  a 
double-consecutive  period  four  or  five  days  a  week 
in  the  so-called  non-laboratory  subjects.  This  plan 
has  been  adopted  as  a  rule  in  high  schools  for  manual 
training,  domestic  science,  and  laboratory  science  (two 
or  three  days  a  week)  largely  as  a  matter  of  convenience 
in  working  out  the  daily  schedule  of  classes.    Excellent 


66  DIRECTING  STUDY 

results  have  been  secured  in  experimentally  conducted 
classes  in  other  subjects  under  the  double-consecutive 
period. 

All  things  considered,  a  class  period  of  sixty  to 
seventy-five  minutes  seems  to  be  an  acceptable  work- 
ing basis  for  all  subjects  in  the  programme  of  studies, 
for  both  the  Junior  and  the  Senior  High  School.  If 
the  Junior  High  School  is  housed  in  a  separate  build- 
ing, a  slight  modification  in  this  particular  plan  may 
prove  desirable.  The  reason  for  the  broad  statement 
is  the  fact  that  the  secondary  school  period  comprising 
the  Junior  and  the  Senior  High  Schools  must  be  treated 
as  an  administrative  unit  in  schools  afi^ecting  approxi- 
mately 70  per  cent  of  the  pupils.  Communities  sup- 
porting high  schools  of  ten  teachers  or  less  cannot  af- 
ford, as  a  rule,  to  maintain  separate  buildings  for  Junior 
and  Senior  High  Schools.  Moreover,  the  argument 
for  the  six-six  division  of  our  twelve  grades  is  too  ob- 
vious for  elaboration. 

It  will  require  rigorous  methods  to  establish  a  uni- 
form class  period.  In  the  first  place,  teachers  in  all 
departments  may  be  required  to  take  charge,  regularly, 
of  five  class  sections  daily. 

No  appreciable  increase  in  the  instructional  staff  is 
contemplated  in  this  proposal,  inasmuch  as  teachers  of 
science,  manual  training,  or  domestic  science  would 
take  charge  of  one  to  two  additional  class  sections  daily 
to  offset,  in  part,  the  reduction  from  six  to  five  class 
sections  in  other  departments.  Slightly  larger  sec- 
tions may  be  necessary  in  the  latter  case.  Teachers 
who  have  heretofore  been  favored  with  three  or  four 
class  sections,  either  with  the  full  or  partial  double-con- 
secutive period,  will  doubtless  enter  a  vigorous  protest. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  DIRECTING  STUDY      67 

Readjustment  of  Subjects  to  a  Uniform  Class 
Period. — The  validity  of  the  claims  of  certain  subjects 
for  the  exclusive  advantages  of  the  longer  class  period 
has  not  been  fully  justified,  although  plausible  argu- 
ments are  presented.  The  effect  upon  secondary  edu- 
cation of  allotting  practically  one-third  of  the  pupil's 
school-day  to  manual  training  or  domestic  science  has 
not  been  altogether  satisfactory.  The  home-study 
problem  has  been  intensified  in  other  departments, 
both  on  account  of  the  reduction  of  available  free 
periods  for  study  under  school  supervision,  and  on 
account  of  the  subtle  assumption  that  pupils  carry- 
ing three  instead  of  four  courses  involving  home  study 
could  devote  more  time  to  each  course.  Not  infre- 
quently high-school  teachers  announce  that  from  one 
to  one  and  one-half  hours  of  out-of-class  study  are 
required  in  their  particular  courses,  failing  to  multiply 
their  time-requisition  by  three  or  four  in  order  to  gain 
a  fair  estimate  of  the  time  a  pupil  is  expected  to  de- 
vote to  outside  study.  Moreover,  the  double-consecu- 
tive period  allotted  to  manual  training  and  domestic 
science  is  effectively  developing  these  subjects  along 
the  lines  of  shut-in  school  activities,  whereas  by  their 
very  nature  they  should  be  so  administered  as  to  re- 
quire concrete  application  in  the  home.  The  uniform 
class  period  must  result  either  in  a  corresponding  re- 
duction in  the  amount  of  credit  given  or  to  a  type  of 
supplementary  home  work  in  connection  with  these 
departments.  There  can  be  no  question  concerning 
the  desirability  of  the  latter  alternative. 

Girls  might  very  appropriately  enlist  the  co-opera- 
tion of  their  mothers  in  the  solution  of  problems  aris- 
ing in  cooking  and  sewing  courses.     The  advantages 


68  DIRECTING  STUDY 

would  be  clearly  mutual.  Parents  encounter  consid- 
erable difficulty  in  assisting  their  children  in  mathe- 
matics, science,  and  foreign  languages. 

The  case  for  laboratory  science  is  not  so  clear.  Yet 
the  total  time  allotted  to  science  will  not  be  reduced; 
in  fact,  it  will  be  increased.  The  distribution  of  time 
may  present  disadvantages  in  certain  laboratory  ex- 
periments. There  are  comparatively  few  experiments, 
however,  which  require  more  than  ,one  hour.  There 
is  something  to  be  said  in  favor  of  breaking  down  the 
formal  distinction  between  laboratory  work  and  reci- 
tation in  high-school  science. 

Now  that  the  claims  of  other  subjects  are  being 
pressed,  the  demand  being  that  the  laboratory  method 
should  not  be  exclusively  appropriated  by  any  one  or 
two  departments,  attention  is  being  directed  to  the 
problem  of  equalizing  time-schedule  opportunities. 
The  teacher  of  history,  of  English,  of  mathematics,  of 
foreign  language,  is  raising  the  question,  very  perti- 
nently, why  these  subjects  should  not  also  enjoy  the 
benefits  of  "vested  interests"  in  the  distribution  of 
classroom  time  and  energy.  Many  difficulties  of 
schedule-making  will  disappear  with  the  adoption  of 
this  plan.  Opportunities  for  vital  redirection  of  class- 
room procedure  in  courses  now  given  a  single  short 
period  will  be  offered.  The  home-study  problem  may 
be  radically  changed  in  the  manner  suggested  in  the 
latter  part  of  this  chapter.  The  single  uniform  class 
period  for  all  subjects,  as  recommended  in  this  discus- 
sion, opens  the  way  for  fruitful  reforms  in  high-school 
education. 

A  Longer  School-Day.  —  Incidentally  the  longer 
school-day  is  inevitable  if  the  single  uniform  period  is 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  DIRECTING  STUDY      69 

to  be  adopted.  Six  class  periods  are  highly  essential 
in  working  out  the  daily  schedule  of  classes.  The  single 
forenoon  session  must  go.  To  carry  out  this  plan  the 
school-day  should  begin  at  8.30  a.  m.,  or  earlier,  and 
close  at  3.30  p.  M.,  or  4  p.  m.  (approximately),  depend- 
ing upon  the  arrangement  for  the  noon  intermission 
and  the  general  auditorium  period.  It  should  be 
readily  apparent  that  any  serious  and  practical  con- 
sideration of  curriculum  problems  must  lead  to  the 
conclusion  that  courses  in  the  various  subjects  should 
be  given  equal  schedule  advantages  if  they  are  to  be 
properly  developed.  To  one  familiar  with  the  place- 
ment of  courses  in  a  time  schedule  the  importance  of 
this  point  is  obvious. 

With  the  longer  school-day  and  class  period,  stock 
should  be  taken  of  the  available  time  for  home  study. 
Not  infrequently  it  is  found  that  no  allowance  is  made 
for  the  new  arrangement.  Teachers  have  been  known 
to  exact  of  the  pupil  an  amount  of  work  for  home  as- 
signment that  could  hardly  be  done  in  less  than  two 
hours  of  regular  home  study,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
the  lengthened  class  period  and  school-day  leave  very 
little  time  for  home  study.  It  is  not  difficult  to  esti- 
mate the  probable  time  available  for  home  work.  For 
the  growing  adolescent  in  the  modern  home,  perhaps 
three  hours  could  be  set  aside  for  home  study  with  the 
adoption  of  the  longer  school-day.  Boys  and  girls 
need  some  free  time  for  recreation.  The  home  makes 
certain  demands.  Music  requires  time  for  practice. 
There  are  certain  legitimate  social  demands.  More- 
over, it  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  that  there  is  a  proper 
limit  to  the  number  of  hours  for  real  intellectual  effort. 
Three  hours  would  seem  to  be  the  maximum  for  home 


70  DIRECTING  STUDY 

study.  If  the  senior  high-school  pupil  is  carrying  four 
heavy  studies,  and  if  one  of  his  teachers  clings  to  the 
old  idea  of  one  and  a  half  to  two  hours  on  his  partic- 
ular subject,  other  subjects  will  go  begging  for  home 
study.  The  specialist  is  not  always  mindful  of  the 
fact  that  the  high-school  pupil  has  something  to  do 
in  other  directions.  In  the  administration  of  directed 
study  all  these  factors  call  for  constant  attention.  A 
certain  university  professor  known  for  his  generosity 
in  assignments  of  work  and  a  relentless  insistence  upon 
thoroughness  remarked  when  his  students  complained 
that  they  had  no  time  left  for  their  other  studies: 
"Well,  gentlemen,  that's  my  opportunity.  You  elect 
snap  courses  in  other  departments.  You  must  re- 
member that  I  am  seeing  to  it  that  you  shall  not  escape 
a  sound  education."  This  general  attitude  is  some- 
times found  among  high-school  teachers.  Collegiate 
practices  creep  over  into  the  high  school.  The  special- 
ist can  easily  fail  to  appreciate  the  responsibilities  of 
pupils  living  at  home  and  the  claims  of  other  depart- 
ments upon  the  pupils'  time  and  energy.  It  is  an  ex- 
ceedingly difficult  and  persistent  administrative  prob- 
lem to  work  out  a  fair  and  equitable  distribution  of 
time  and  energy  among  specialists. 

Even  in  the  9th  grade  the  major  part  of  real  study 
should  be  done  under  the  guidance  of  the  teacher. 
This  can  be  done  in  the  longer  class  period  when  at- 
tention is  directed  to  the  work  spirit,  with  no  upper 
limit  set  for  any  pupil  in  the  class  group.  Is  it  not 
possible  to  master  Qth-grade  mathematics  by  actually 
working  at  it  seventy  minutes  a  day,  five  days  a  week  ? 
To  be  sure,  some  time  in  the  class  period  will  be  de- 
voted to  drill  and  general  discussion  and  explanation. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  DIRECTING  STUDY      71 

Some  pupils  will  need  to  find  extra  time  for  a  real  mas- 
tery of  the  course.  A  pupil  confused  in  a  given  sub- 
ject may  need  to  find  whole  half-days  (Saturdays) 
when  he  can  devote  his  energies  uninterruptedly  to 
the  mastery  of  himself  (and  the  subject  in  hand). 
This  might  well  be  done  in  the  school  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  teacher.  There  are  teachers  who  find  such 
a  plan  highly  efiicient.  Perhaps  some  objections  would 
be  raised  to  this  extra  work.  This  may  not  be  the  place 
or  time  to  suggest  a  longer  school-week.  Yet  teachers 
who  have  utilized  an  extra  half-day  on  Saturday,  now 
and  again,  to  work  with  a  few  pupils  having  difiiculty 
have  found  the  investment  paying  dividends  in  better 
class  work  and  more  responsive  pupils.  Conference 
hours  after  school  in  the  new  plan  of  longer  class 
periods  with  the  longer  school-day  are  not  proving 
satisfactory.  It  is  time  for  teacher  and  pupils  to  shift 
the  emphasis  to  other  things.  The  Saturday-morning 
conference  in  which  a  steady  pull  (perhaps  exposure 
in  some  rare  cases)  can  be  had  is  commended  as  a  pos- 
sibility for  the  pupil  who  is  indulging  in  half-learning 
or  for  whom  there  is  no  mastery  yet. 

Adjustment  of  the  New  Plan  to  the  Junior  and  the 
Senior  High  Schools. — The  uniform  class  period  of 
sixty-five  to  seventy-five  minutes  adopted  as  a  stand- 
ard for  both  Junior  and  Senior  High  Schools  contributes 
to  the  efficient  management  of  those  schools  which  in- 
clude both  sections  in  one  organization.  Pupils  in  the 
first  and  second  years  of  the  Junior  High  School  should 
do  practically  all  their  school  work  within  the  school- 
day.  The  class  period  of  one  hour  affords  ample  time 
in  which  to  accomplish  the  desired  results.  The  exer- 
cises of  the  hour  are  varied.    No  single  activity  need 


72  DIRECTING  STUDY 

be  carried  to  the  point  of  fatiguing  pupils.  If  manual 
training,  domestic  science,  drawing,  and  music  are 
offered,  one  of  these  exercises  and  four  major  studies 
would  require  five  hours  of  the  working-day  for  the 
pupil  in  the  first  two  years  of  the  Junior  High  School. 
Add  to  this  schedule  one  hour  of  directed  physical 
'education,  and  it  will  be  apparent  that  the  school  has 
•exhausted  its  claims  upon  the  pupil's  time.  It  may 
not  be  wise  to  prohibit  home  study  in  these  grades. 
On  the  contrary,  any  supplementary  work  of  applied 
or  other  sort  which  pupils  desire  to  carry  on  through 
their  own  initiative  should  be  encouraged  by  the  school 
and  assistance  rendered  when  possible. 

Beginning  with  the  last  year  of  the  Junior  High 
School  home  study  should  be  expected.  The  general 
character  of  such  study  has  been  indicated.  Since  it 
is  the  continuance  or  completion  of  work  already  be- 
gun under  the  plan  of  directing  study,  the  assignment 
varies  with  the  individual  pupils  of  the  group.  Prob- 
lems have  been  raised,  goal  ends  or  objectives  are  de- 
fined—something toward  which  to  work;  some  plan 
of  work  is  presented;  ordinarily  through  the  study 
lesson  explicit  preparation  is  made  for  the  advanced 
assignment  and  the  new  work  is  properly  begun  under 
this  procedure.  Home  study  can  be  intelligently  or- 
ganized. The  impetus  is  given  under  the  stimulating 
guidance  of  the  teacher.  Some  knowledge  of  the  pupil's 
methods  of  work  is  gained.  Assignments  may  be  made 
on  the  basis  of  individual  needs. 

The  Problem  of  Directing  Study  Within  the  Class 
Period. — Probably  more  significant  than  all  other 
factors  involved  in  the  administration  of  this  new 
general  method  is  the  treatment  of  the  problem  with- 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  DIRECTING  STUDY      73^ 

in  the  class  period.  It  has  been  proposed  that  prac- 
tically an  even  distribution  of  time  be  established 
between  the  recitation  and  supervised  study — whatever 
the  number  of  minutes  allotted  to  the  class  period  may 
be.  In  fact,  a  rigid  arbitrary  division  has  been  made 
in  some  schools — thirty  minutes  for  the  recitation  and 
thirty  minutes^  for  supervised  study.  At  this  point 
fundamental  principles  must  be  considered. 

Any  formal  procedure  easily  degenerates  into  a 
perfunctory,  deadening,  mechanical  performance.  An 
illogical,  informal  procedure  is  not  necessarily  the 
alternative.  A  large  share  of  the  enthusiasm  for  super- 
vised study  has  been  the  result  of  the  conviction  that 
through  this  activity,  properly  directed,  the  recitation 
system  might  be  radically  reorganized,  if  not  aban- 
doned, and  a  classroom  procedure  substituted  therefor 
which  is  conceived  from  a  totally  different  point  of 
view. 

If  pupils  are  to  "recite  lessons"  in  the  ordinary  way, 
receive  assignments  as  usual,  be  supervised  by  their 
teachers  while  they  "learn  their  lessons"  preparatory 
to  further  home  study  and  subsequent  recitation,  there 
is  little  permanent  value  to  accrue  from  the  departure. 
Inflexible  daily  lessons,  the  formal  presentation  of 
vivisected  and  comminuted  sections  of  the  subject  as 
a  daily  performance,  the  reiteration  of  facts  under  a 
system  of  testing  with  retrospective  intention,  are 
evidences  of  a  mechanically  conducted  classroom  cal- 
culated to  develop  passivity  and  conformity — a  re- 
ceptive attitude  of  mind.  Hearing  lessons  recited  in  a 
routine  fashion  cannot  be  accepted  as  the  best  type 
of  classroom  activity. 

The  personal  initiative  of  pupils  must  be  cultivated 


74  DIRECTING  STUDY 

and  their  productive  energies  developed  as  well  as 
their  powers  of  assimilation.  The  "problem  method" 
is  capable  of  extended  application.  The  organization 
of  units  of  instruction  under  a  problem-solving  situa- 
tion is  possible  in  practically  all  high-school  subjects. 
What  is  known  as  the  study  lesson  may  properly  take 
the  place  of  a  large  part  of  the  recitation  in  the  new 
class  period.  The  formal  presentation  of  subject 
wholes,  or  units  of  instruction,  might  very  properly 
occupy  the  entire  time  of  a  class  period.  For  two  or 
three  subsequent  days  the  entire  class  period  might 
be  most  appropriately  devoted  to  individual  work  in 
which  the  teacher  is  consulting  expert  and  adviser  in 
work  related  to  the  unit  of  instruction  previously  pre- 
sented. Again,  it  may  be  perfectly  obvious  that  the 
situation  calls  for  alternation  of  class  teaching  and 
individual  study  within  a  given  class  period.  The 
teacher  must  be  given  freedom  to  express  his  judg- 
ment in  such  matters.  Flexibility  is  absolutely  essen- 
tial. 

Teaching  is,  or  ought  to  be,  a  profession,  not  a  trade. 
To  teach  by  "specifications"  and  "blue-prints"  is  to 
accept  the  principles  of  teaching  on  a  trade  basis.  The 
real  teacher  must  develop  and  display  artistic  quali- 
ties. This  means  that  he  must  be  able  to  measure  the 
results  of  his  own  performances  in  terms  of  the  effect 
produced  upon  the  object  of  education — the  pupil. 
The  class  period  cannot  he  arbitrarily  divided  between 
two  or  more  activities  each  of  which  is  a  variable  factor 
in  a  larger  unity.  The  recommendation  is  frankly 
urged  that  the  disposition  of  the  class  period  be  left 
to  the  teacher.  Supervisors  and  teachers  under  super- 
vision   should   be   capable   of   constructive    thinking. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  DIRECTING  STUDY      75 

The  problem-solving  attitude  of  mind  is  sorely  needed 
in  working  out  a  classroom  procedure  fully  adequate 
to  present  psychological  and  pedagogical  demands. 

The  practice  of  dividing  the  class  period,  devoting 
one  part  to  formal  supervised  study  and  the  other  to 
the  recitation  of  conventional  sort,  is  disastrous  in 
many  directions.  The  teacher's  work  is  reduced  to 
police  duty;  the  temptation  is  to  keep  order  and  to 
command  pupils  to  study  with  no  sense  of  respon- 
sibility for  directing  action.  The  pupil  is  tempted  to 
prove  an  alibi  when  it  comes  to  any  further  exertion 
in  study.  All  the  evils  of  the  recitation  system  are 
perpetuated. 

A  New  Attitude  of  the  Teacher  Toward  Pupil  and 
Subject-Matter. — The  technic  of  directing  study  re- 
mains to  be  mastered.  It  is  a  process  which  perpetually 
begins.  Methods  cannot  be  developed  and  reduced  to 
algebraic  formulae.  Constructive  supervision  o^  teach- 
ing is  the  most  effective  means  to  be  employed.  In 
the  professional  courses  for  the  preparation  of  teachers 
the  initial  work  may  be  begun,  particularly  in  develop- 
ing a  point  of  view,  and  in  giving  some  practice  in 
self-criticism  and  self-direction.  Attention  to  learn- 
ing processes  as  a  basis  for  teaching  procedure  is  a 
hopeful  departure.  An  examination  of  the  methods 
which  pupils  employ  in  their  work  is  essential.  Eco- 
nomical and  productive  methods  must  be  discovered 
and  pupils  must  be  guided  in  the  acquisition  of  these 
better  methods  of  work. 

This  new  general  method,  intelligently  directed, 
should  be  the  means  of  discovering  to  the  teacher  and 
the  pupils  how  best  to  organize,  select,  and  apply  sub- 
ject-matter;   how  to  study  to   the  best  advantage; 


76  DIRECTING   STUDY 

and  how  to  distribute  one's  time  and  energy  in  the 
most  effective  manner.  The  habits  of  work  of  pupils 
should  be  studied  and,  to  whatever  extent  possible, 
improved  by  the  adoption  of  specific  helps  under  the 
teacher's  guidance. 

The  new  teacher  in  this  new  procedure  should  recog- 
nize the  possibilities  for  excellence  in  particular  lines 
of  achievement  among  boys  and  girls.  For  example, 
the  teacher  may  not  be  expected  to  know  as  much 
about  wireless  telegraphy  as  some  boy,  or  as  much 
about  music  as  some  girl,  in  his  class.  There  is  no  dif- 
ficulty in  meeting  these  situations.  The  teacher  is 
not  expected  to  be  omniscient  and  expert  in  every 
direction.  It  has  been  assumed  that  the  teacher  should 
excel  all  the  pupils  in  scholarship.  May  it  not  be  a 
perfectly  natural  situation  to  find  now  and  again  some 
pupil  or  pupils  who  can  excel  their  teacher  in  some 
given  intellectual  adventure?  Why  not  recognize  it? 
Only  a  stubborn  insistence  upon  status  prevents  it. 
Those  who  have  a  large  confidence  in  certain  forms  of 
tests  and  measurements  would  gain  an  illuminating 
experience  by  giving  some  tests  to  both  teachers  and 
their  pupils  under  the  same  conditions.  Such  a  test 
(the  Thorndike  W  test)  was  given  to  a  group  of  college 
seniors  preparing  to  teach  English  and  a  group  of 
high-school  seniors.  The  median  for  the  college  seniors 
was  higher.  But  the  highest  third  of  the  high-school 
seniors  did  better  than  the  highest  third  of  the  college 
seniors.  In  that  test  one  college  senior  out  of  twenty- 
one,  and  six  high-school  seniors  out  of  thirty-nine, 
made  a  perfect  score.  (The  inference  that  these  tests 
actually  measure  capacity  is  perhaps  gratuitous.  Such 
applications  as  this  one  may,  however,  serve  a  pur- 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  DIRECTING  STUDY      77 

pose  in  a  wholesome  reduction  of  egotism  if,  perchance^ 
humility  is  at  a  low  ebb.) 

One  is  tempted  to  recommend  that  the  supervisors, 
educators,  administrators,  and  experts  advocating 
tests  and  measurements  should  submit  themselves 
frequently  to  similar  testing  with  those  upon  whom 
they  would  practice,  in  order  that  they  might  study 
experimentally  their  own  experience  in  taking  such 
tests.  Prospective  high-school  teachers  ought  to  know 
that  they  are  likely  to  have  pupils  in  their  schools  who 
will  be  able  to  do  just  as  good  work  in  a  new  task  as 
the  teachers.  It  is  possible,  too,  that  some  pupils  may, 
at  times,  be  able  to  excel  their  teacher  in  scholarship. 
By  shifting  the  emphasis  from  status  to  emerging  merit 
this  fact  may  be  frankly  recognized.  For  the  adult 
to  find  a  youth  more  capable  than  himself  in  some  bit 
of  information  or  skill  is  an  occasion  for  developing 
mutuality  and  a  recognition  of  alternate  leaderships. 
It  suggests  also  the  need  of  dynamic  and  active  scholar- 
ship and  a  continuous  moral  analysis  of  procedure. 
Improvement  of  teachers  in  service  through  new 
courses,  earnestly  pursued,  is  a  means  of  keeping  alive 
a  real  scholarship,  on-going  and  self-renewing. 

The  fact  that  high-school  teachers  may  have  some 
pupil  or  pupils  in  their  classes  quite  as  able  as  them- 
selves in  the  performance  of  some  particular  task  sug- 
gests the  need  of  emphasizing  certain  unique  functions 
of  the  teacher  in  our  new  procedure.  The  teacher 
ought  to  become  an  expert  in  directing  activity.  He 
should  be  able  to  excel  in  the  rcle  of  a  kind  of  glorified 
referee  in  the  intellectual  contest  under  the  discussion 
method.  He  should  become  a  lively  consulting  expert 
in  assisting  boys  and  girls  in  attacking  subject-matter 


78  DIRECTING  STUDY 

(problems).  He  should,  in  brief,  become  the  recog- 
nized general  manager  of  the  varied  activities  of  the 
laboratory-work  period,  seeing  to  it  that  energy  is 
wisely  directed  and  that  results  are  economically  and 
thoughtfully  produced.  A  demonstrated  leadership  is 
the  special  function  of  the  new  teacher.  Boys  and 
girls  are  quick  to  respect  capacity  of  special  sort. 
Scholarship  is  not  less  important  in  this  emphasis.  A 
new  definition  of  it  is  no  doubt  required.  Any  ac- 
credited form  of  scholarship,  dated  in  the  past,  will 
not  be  adequate.  What  is  required  is  a  usable  scholar- 
ship, refertilized  and  increasing  in  the  interaction  of 
mind  upon  mind.  But,  if  the  new  teacher  is  constantly 
gaining  in  special  capacity  in  the  administration  of 
our  new  procedure  by  becoming  more  and  more  expert 
in  managing  situations  in  which  there  is  great  varia- 
tion of  individual  achievement,  securing  whatever 
unity  out  of  self-activity  is  desirable,  such  a  teacher 
will  be  able  to  exhibit  excellence  in  leadership.  That 
is  his  special  mode  of  excellence.  The  pupil  who  excels 
his  teacher  in  some  other  mode  of  excellence,  even 
scholarship  for  the  time  being  in  some  new  adventure 
in  which  teacher  and  pupils  have  an  even  chance,  that 
pupil  can  be  recognized  in  the  group  for  his  special 
excellence.  In  passing,  it  may  be  fitting  to  remark 
that  boys  and  girls  soon  acquire  ability  to  detect  any 
subtle  dishonesty  in  the  person  who  undertakes  to 
camouflage  his  scholarship.  The  teacher  who  falls  into 
the  habit  of  saying,  "Well,  let's  look  that  up  for  to- 
morrow," when  in  a  doubtful  position  as  to  scholar- 
ship, may  not  expect  to  be  held  in  the  highest  esteem 
as  a  scholar  by  wide-awake  boys  and  girls. 

A  New  Attitude  of  Pupil  Toward  Work. — This  new 
general  method,  efficiently  directed,  should  serve  to 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  DIRECTING  STUDY      79 

develop  the  maximum  working-power  of  each  pupil. 
It  may  be  made  the  means  of  eliciting  the  best  from 
each  pupil.  A  constant  stimulus  to  excel  is  afforded. 
A  working  group,  with  varying  individual  attainments, 
is  conceived  to  be  possible  in  all  classes.  The  procedure 
founded  upon  this  conception  encourages  each  person 
to  discover  economical  and  effective  ways  of  attaining 
desired  ends.  The  function  of  the  new  teacher  is 
mainly  to  control  situations  that  give  rise  to  individual 
challenge,  and  to  guide  pupils  in  their  co-operative 
thinking  and  doing.  The  institutional  teacher  has 
been  concerned  primarily  with  the  imposed  task.  The 
aim  has  been  knowledge  or  information  as  an  end  in 
itself,  or  possibly  discipline,  with  slight  emphasis  on 
the  content  of  the  curriculum.  The  methods  employed 
to  secure  these  objectives  have  been  developed  upon 
the  theory  either  of  the  memorizing  school  or  the  mind- 
training  school.  The  recitation  system  belongs  to 
these  types  of  schools.    . 

Hearing  lessons  recited  consumes  the  valuable  time 
of  teacher  and  pupils.  The  logical  procedure  is  to  re- 
quire the  pupil  to  prepare  his  lesson  outside  of  class. 
It  is  not  strange  indeed  that  "supervised  study,"  so 
called,  should  be  introduced  as  a  substitute  for  home 
study  and  manipulated  to  all  intents  and  purposes  as  a 
part  of  the  recitation  system.  What  is  needed  is  a  new 
point  of  view.  The  class  period  should  be  a  laboratory 
hour — or,  better,  a  working  period  to  which  pupils  come 
as  to  a  place  of  challenge.  The  teacher  should  be  the 
director  of  thought  and  action.  Surrounded  by  a 
wealth  of  raw  material  in  a  stimulating  environment, 
the  pupil  under  thoughtful  guidance  is  capable  of  de- 
veloping his  maximum  working  powers.  Guidance 
does  not  mean  mere  supervision.     It  does  not  mean 


80  DIRECTING  STUDY 

that  pupils  are  to  be  made  dependent  upon  the  teacher, 
nor  that  work  is  to  be  made  easy  with  no  difficulties 
to  encounter.  Pupils  should  be  assisted  in  planning 
their  work.  They  need  to  be  taught  to  use  their  powers 
of  observation,  induction,  and  deduction,  in  partic- 
ular projects,  problems,  exercises,  topics,  and  courses. 

The  immature  pupil  in  isolated  home  study  too  fre- 
quently energizes  far  below  his  ability.  He  is  likely 
to  be  confused  as  to  the  purpose  and  value  of  his  ef- 
forts. Under  the  procedure  suggested  in  this  discus- 
sion the  pupil  works,  for  a  time,  under  expert  direction. 
What  he  does  is  checked  and  evaluated.  He  knows  at 
once  whether  he  is  working  along  productive  lines. 
He  is  taught  to  examine  data,  to  think  his  way  through, 
to  arrive  at  conclusioi^s  for  himself,  and  to  submit  his 
results  to  the  group  in  which  he  is  working. 

In  the  •  senior  high  school,  particularly  in  the  last 
two  years,  no  pupil  should  ever  be  led  to  think  he  has 
finished  the  challenge.  He  ought  to  leave  the  class- 
room every  day  conscious  of  the  fact  that  he  has  only 
begun  his  thinking  upon  some  vital  issue  or  principle. 

School  Work  Progressively  Continuous — Not  Di- 
vided into  Definite  Periods  of  Preparation  and  Reci- 
tation.— The  essential  feature  of  the  new  class  period 
is  the  procedure  of  working  forward  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  teacher.  The  subject-matter  employed  in 
this  departure  may  not  be  radically  different  from  that 
ordinarily  used  in  the  recitation  system.  The  nature 
of  its  organization  and  method  may  need  to  be  changed 
to  meet  the  new  conditions.  The  unit  of  teaching  will 
be  mentioned  later.  The  emphasis  on  method  should 
be  shifted.  Out-of-class  study  may  be  continued,  the 
purpose  of  which,  however,  will  not  be  primarily  that 
of  preparation  for  subsequent  recitation. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  DIRECTING  STUDY      81 

An  adequate  account  of  the  pupil's  progress  and 
attainment  may  be  had  both  by  individual  checking 
of  results  by  the  teacher  and  by  testing  for  under- 
standing and  facility  in  further  application  of  prin- 
ciples in  class  exercises.  The  efforts  of  pupils  under 
the  new  procedure  will  be  evaluated  more  and  more  in 
terms  of  ability  to  go  forward — ability  to  make  fruit- 
ful application  of  knowledges  and  skills.  (Application 
as  used  in  this  connection  includes  its  practical  scope, 
but  refers  mainly  to  learning  processes  in  which  a  way 
of  thinking  is  gripped  and  then  used  in  handling  new 
data  and  new  situations.) 

Home  Work  a  Continuation  of  Study  Begun  in 
Class. — Directing  study  is  designed  to  replace  a  large 
part  of  the  old-fashioned  recitation  and  to  change  the 
character  of  home  study.  In  the  formal  presentation 
of  the  unit  of  instruction  under  class  teaching  or  the 
study  lesson,  the  problem  is  to  engage  the  attention 
of  all  pupils  in  the  group.  The  principles  of  direct- 
ing study  are  based  upon  a  recognition  of  individual 
differences.  Teachers  readily  discover  enormous  dif- 
ferences in  performance.  This  fact  alone  should  modify 
profoundly  the  character  of  home  work.  It  might 
appropriately  be  described  as  unfinished  business,  and 
therefore  a  kind  of  work  adapted  to  individual  needs, 
instead  of  a  common  assignment  of  so  many  pages  or 
problems  for  all  pupils  alike.  That  which  is  accurately 
begun  in  class  and  partially  worked  out  may  be  further 
elaborated,  refined,  or  verified  in  the  home  study. 

The  Pupil,  the  Educative  Unit.* — In  the  large  high 
school  the  practice  of  classifying  pupils  in  a  given  sub- 

*  "The  schoolrooms  of  the  land  too  often  present  the  spectacle  of 
straight  rows  of  identical  desks  at  which  sit  children  of  the  same  age, 
supposedly  endowed  with  the  same  instincts  and  therefore  to  be  treated 


82  DIRECTING   STUDY 

ject  according  to  ability  is  sometimes  found.  Ob- 
viously this  cannot  be  done  in  the  small  school,  how- 
ever desirable  such  practice  may  appear  to  be.  The 
accelerant-group  idea  is  an  attractive  theory.  Under 
collective  teaching  and  the  recitation  system  pupils  in 
a  given  subject  differentiate  rapidly  into  two  or  more 
rather  clearly  defined  static  groups.  The  immediate 
temptation  is  to  classify  pupils  under  conventional 
labels,  as  bright,  less  bright,  and  dull  pupils.  The 
effect  of  such  classification  upon  pupil  and  teacher  is 
not  altogether  wholesome,  although  it  may  seem  to  be 
an  efficient  method.  The  pupil,  once  labelled,  is  usually 
a  discouraged  pupil.     Moreover,  any  group  or  section 

all  alike.  And  when  the  method  fails,  democracy  is  blamed  instead  of 
the  mistaken  science.  .  .  .  Instinct  tends  to  describe  us  en  masse.  .  .  . 
Temperament  emphasizes  the  differences.  ...  If  temperaments  could 
be  adequately  classified  and  a  method  of  determining  them  could  be  de- 
vised, there  would  be  made  available  an  invaluable  supplement  to  the 
*  intelligence '  tests.  Until  that  comes  the  latter  will  be  used  to  buttress 
fallacious  £irguments."  (See  Ellsworth  Farris,  American  Journal  of 
Sociology,  September,  192 1,  "Are  Instincts  Data  or  Hypotheses?") 

The  theory  of  instincts  together  with  the  recapitulation  theory,  ac- 
companied by  the  culture-epochs  presupposition,  cannot  be  relied  upon 
to-day  as  a  valid  and  valuable  basis  upon  which  to  build  educational 
theory  and  procedure.  The  extent  to  which  our  whole  system  of  edu- 
cation has  been  organized  upon  the  hypotheses  derived  from  these  doubt- 
ful theories  can  hardly  be  appreciated.  Mythological  constructions 
with  a  luxuriance  of  imagery  have  cluttered  up  our  books  on  "methods" 
and  "education."  This  aspect  of  educational  development  has  been  a 
part  of  the  general  disposition  to  rationalize  opinion  and  belief.  The 
scientist  has  not  escaped.  Dressing  convictions  up  in  the  "livery  of 
science"  and  backing  up  arguments  with  "cold  figures"  are  common 
phenomena  in  both  the  "exact"  and  the  social  sciences.  Wholly  gra- 
tuitous hypotheses  are  readily  constructed  and  accepted.  The  person 
who  does  not  get  beyond  the  rationalizing  level  of  thinking  is  easily  vic- 
timized by  a  spontaneous  train  of  associations.  The  modern  scientist 
will  not  fail  to  tie  up  his  bias,  personal  equation,  and  prejudices  in  a 
sizable  package  and  tag  it  as  one  set  of  facts  which  he  must  reckon  with 
at  every  step  of  his  investigation. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  DIRECTING  STUDY      83 

of  pupils  must  within  itself  inevitably  develop  wide 
ranges  of  differences.  Logically  the  scheme  of  classi- 
fication cannot  be  made  a  success  with  a  division  of 
classes  only  into  accelerant  and  ordinary  sections. 
The  advantages  are  at  best  only  relative.  Any  classi- 
fication presents  the  old  problem  of  individual  differ- 
ences. 

With  the  pupil,  and  not  the  class,  as  the  educative 
unit,  the  argument  for  classification  in  terms  of  native 
ability  or  intelligence  is  not  so  obvious.  The  pupil 
has  no  static  position  in  his  group,  when  teaching  con- 
cerns itself  with  directing  activity  by  developing  situa- 
tions to  which  pupils  and  teacher  react  under  a  prob- 
lem-solving procedure.  Each  pupil  has  the  opportunity 
of  working  up  to  his  best.  No  one  of  a  top  third  is 
limited  by  the  presence  of  a  pupil  perchance  in  a  bot- 
tom third.  The  fact  that  one  pupil  solves  fifty  exer- 
cises in  algebra  while  another  solves  only  ten,  both 
working  under  the  same  organizing  principle,  does 
not  support  the  view  that  these  two  pupils  should  be 
separated.  The  main  point  is  to  have  each  working 
up  to  his  best  ability. 

The  indeterminate-assignment  idea  must  find  a 
practical  application  in  this  new  type  of  classroom 
work.  The  problem  does  not  consist  in  fixing  a  mini- 
mum content  for  the  class  as  a  whole,  but  rather  in 
developing  a  clear  perspective  which  sets  no  upper 
limit,  at  any  time,  for  any  pupil.  The  circle  within 
which  work  is  to  be  done  may  be  described;  each  pupil 
within  that  circle  should  be  given  an  effective  freedom 
to  work  up  to  his  best  possibilities. 

The  adequate  teacher  needs  to  think  of  extending 
the  scope  of  initiative.    The  problem  becomes  increas- 


84  DIRECTING  STUDY 

ingly  one  of  finding  abundant  raw  material  to  meet 
the  challenge  and  needs  of  pupils  at  work.  Wide  use 
is  made  of  supplementary  texts  and  library,  together 
with  laboratory  material  and  original  problems  and 
questions.  The  heart  of  directing  study  lies  in  making 
the  class  period  productive  for  every  pupil.  This  end 
can  be  attained  by  having  each  pupil  work  up  to  his 
maximum  throughout  the  class  period. 

The  recitation  system  develops  a  receptive  pupil 
— one  who  spends  the  hour  in  listening,  absorbing, 
paying  attention.  The  plan  of  directing  activity  keeps 
each  pupil  at  the  fork  of  the  road  with  a  problem  or 
question  to  be  worked  out.  Each  pupil  is  using  in- 
formation, principles,  knowledge,  in  thinlcing  his  way 
through  exercises  of  one  sort  or  another — constructing 
a  story,  theme,  report,  etc. 

It  is  to  be  expected  that  pupils  should  work  at  dif- 
ferent rates.  One  commits  ninety  lines  while  another 
in  the  same  class  commits  fifteen  lines;  one  translates 
fifty  lines  while  another  translates  twenty  lines;  one 
writes  a  half-dozen  stories  while  another  is  struggling 
to  turn  off  one,  etc.  Who  after  all  does  the  best?  Is 
it  not  a  question  of  each  measuring  himself  against  his 
own  record?  The  problem  for  the  adequate  teacher  is 
to  direct  activity.  Boys  and  girls  become  competent 
assistants  in  the  proper  direction  of  energy  just  as  soon 
as  the  repressive  measures  of  collective  teaching  are 
removed. 

The  pupil  as  the  educative  unit  does  not  imply  that 
the  ideal  situation  would  be  to  have  a  teacher  for  every 
pupil.  On  the  contrary,  the  large  class  can  be  handled 
more  productively  under  directing  study  than  under 
the  recitation  system.     Any  conclusion  that  the  pupil 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  DIRECTING   STUDY      85 

is  singled  out  and  thought  of  in  isolation  is  a  gratuitous 
misapprehension  of  the  essential  principles  of  direct- 
ing study.  Under  the  recitation  system  the  pupil  is 
singled  out.  The  average  time  for  each  pupil  before 
the  class  in  the  r61e  of  reciting  is  about  one  minute  a 
day  in  each  course,  whereas  in  fruitfully  directed  ac- 
tivity every  pupil  in  the  class  is  working  up  to  his 
maximum  capacity.  The  "socialized  recitation,"  at 
its  best,  partly  describes  the  new  departure.  How  to 
secure  full  participation  of  all  members  of  the  class  is 
the  central  problem  in  this  new  general  method  of 
directing  study. 

Discussion  is  essential.  Instead  of  reciting  a  com- 
mon assignment — a  minimum  essential  content — 
profitable  discussion  is  promoted  when  each  pupil 
has  worked  out  something  of  his  own  to  contribute 
to  the  discussion  of  some  organizing  principle.  The 
pupil  in  the  bottom  third  should  be  given  an  oppor- 
tunity to  contribute  something  which  his  superiors 
have  not  done.  In  developing  a  new  principle  as  a 
tool  for  further  thinking  and  use  on  raw  material,  all 
pupils  are  engaged  in  a  common  enterprise.  No  time 
is  wasted  in  merely  reciting  ready-made  answers  to 
ready-made  questions. 

Meeting  the  Individual  Pupil  on  the  Basis  of  His 
Own  Rate  of  Accomplishment. — The  common  problem, 
subject  whole,  or  unit  of  instruction,  serves  to  unify 
the  work  of  a  class  group.  It  is  within  the  unit  of  in- 
struction that  recognition  of  individual  rates  of  ac- 
complishment is  urged.  Organizing  principles  of  think- 
ing appropriately  selected  and  practically  integrated 
in  terms  of  these  teaching  units,  or  units  of  instruction, 
must  be  given  major  consideration. 


86  DIRECTING  STUDY 

Each  course  within  a  subject  should  be  restated  and 
organized  with  reference  to  a  few  basic  centres.  Means 
or  plans  of  thinking  one's  way  through  subject-matter 
are  beginning  to  receive  attention.  With  a  shifting 
of  emphasis  from  the  memorizing  school  and  the  mind- 
training  school  to  the  thought-provoking  school  under 
the  conception  of  intelligently  guided  self-expression, 
these  points  of  organization  and  methodology  of 
courses  of  study  will  gain  a  new  impetus  and  meaning. 

Pupils  are  not  likely  to  improve  habits  of  study 
through  admonition.  Some  practical  and  vital  means 
of  gripping  raw  material  must  be  made  available. 

Class  teaching  is  economical.  It  is  socially  and 
intellectually  desirable.  Supervised  study,  effectively 
employed,  and  class  teaching  are  essentially  phases  of 
a  productive  form  of  classroom  procedure,  the  validity 
and  value  of  which  have  been  demonstrated  in  a  large 
number  of  instances.  The  one  type  of  activity  supple- 
ments the  other.  One  may  be  regarded  as  a  corrective 
as  well  as  a  reinforcement  of  the  other.  It  is  highly 
important  that  teachers  examine  the  methods  which 
pupils  employ  in  study,  observe  the  amount  and  kind 
of  work  which  they  can  accomplish  in  a  given  time, 
guide  them  in  the  proper  distribution  of  time  and 
energy  in  so  far  as  possible,  and  assist  them  in  the 
development  of  a  more  efficient  organization  of  working 
habits.  The  aim  is  to  direct  study  along  intelligent 
and  fruitful  lines  by  making  explicit  to  pupils  ways 
and  means  of  planning  procedure,  of  schematizing  the 
search,  of  handling  data,  etc.  Directing  study  may  be 
a  means  in  the  general  movement  for  the  improvement 
of  secondary  education. 

Directing  Study  Possible  Without  Schedule  Changes. 
— For  those  schools  which  are  operated  under  a  forty- 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  DIRECTING   STUDY      87 

minute  period,  much  that  is  urged  in  this  argument 
may  be  applied  in  the  development  of  the  class  period 
in  a  manner  that  places  emphasis  upon  a  problem-solv- 
ing procedure.  The  extent  and  character  of  home 
study  would  obviously  vary  with  the  length  of  the 
class  period.  The  essential  features  of  a  redirected 
classroom  procedure  may  be  developed,  in  part  at 
least,  irrespective  of  the  time  element  in  the  class 
period. 

Directing  Study  a  Key  to  Further  Advance  in  Edu- 
cational Readjustment  and  Guidance. — In  view  of  the 
fact  that  the  longer  class  period  should  enable  teachers 
better  to  evaluate  the  intellectual  and  moral  traits 
of  pupils,  a  new  avenue  of  approach  to  the  study  and 
administration  of  educational  guidance  may  be  dis- 
closed. This  more  intimate  diagnosis  and  guidance 
should  provide  a  means  of  a  better  understanding  of 
the  probable  potential  aptitudes  and  developing 
powers  of  pupils  than  is  possible  under  the  prevailing 
methods  of  high-school  teaching.  The  success  or 
failure  of  pupils  might  become  a  symptom  which  would 
point  to  a  more  rational  practice  of  administering 
courses  of  study,  not  only  with  respect  to  teaching 
per  se,  but,  in  particular,  to  assignment  and  continu- 
ance of  suitable  courses  in  terms  of  individual  needs. 
The  inference  that  a  pupil  who  is  failing  in  a  certain 
course  should,  on  that  account,  be  shifted  to  another 
course  does  not  necessarily  follow.  This  more  inti- 
mate appraisal  of  achievement,  working  habits,  and 
moral  traits  of  pupils  leads  to  no  unvarying  rule  with 
respect  to  selection  and  continuance  of  courses,  but 
rather  should  point  the  way  to  a  more  intelligent  place- 
ment of  all  pupils — those  of  superior  ability,  as  well  as 


88  DIRECTING   STUDY 

those  of  mediocre  ability — than  has  obtained  under 
the  recitation  system. 

The  mechanical  and  arbitrary  definition  of  credit 
units  in  terms  of  hours  and  "minimum  essentials" — a 
system  partly  enforced,  partly  voluntary,  but  alto- 
gether unsatisfactory — may  not  be  continued  under 
an  educational  procedure  which  fosters  personal  initia- 
tive in  a  procedure  which  finds  its  underlying  phi- 
losophy in  a  rational  development  of  the  life  of  each 
pupil.  Different  rates  of  progress,  varying  degrees  of 
accomplishment,  non-uniform  amounts  of  work,  are 
factors  to  be  integrated  into  the  complex  educational 
practice  of  to-day.  These  variable  factors  must  be 
recognized  not  in  spite  of  but  along  with  the  urgent 
demands  for  uniformity  of  treatment  of  groups  of 
pupils.  How  to  use  the  available  school  machinery 
so  that  each  pupil  may  be  given  the  maximum  oppor- 
tunity to  develop  his  initiative  is  the  crucial  problem 
in  this  new  departure.  The  recognition  of  individual 
needs  within  the  system  of  class  organization  is  possi- 
ble under  fruitfully  directed  study. 

The  practice  in  self-direction  which  pupils  acquire 
in  the  secondary  school  should  become  an  important 
factor  in  determining  life-career  motives.  To  assist 
each  pupil  to  become  increasingly  intelligent  in  mak- 
ing his  own  choice,  in  estimating  his  own  opportuni- 
ties, in  appraising  his  own  ability,  is  a  fundamental 
principle  to  be  observed  in  explicit  attempts  to  formu- 
late a  programme  of  educational  guidance  as  well  as 
vocational  guidance.  Whatever  procedure  contributes 
notably  to  a  self-realizing  process  of  education  should 
meet  with  cordial  support.  Supervised  study  as  inter- 
preted in  this  discussion  emphasizes  the  cultivation  of 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  DIRECTING   STUDY      89 

personal  initiative  and  self-expression  through  de- 
liberate methods  of  directing  activity.  Pupils  are 
thrown  on  their  own  responsibility  under  a  guidance 
that  is  not  crutching,  but  stimulating  and  thought- 
provoking.  The  character  of  their  work  is  scrutinized 
mainly  from  the  side  of  doing,  constructing,  produc- 
ing, building,  thinking.  The  memorizing  school  with 
its  recitation  system  and  its  devotion  to  class  instruc- 
tion must  be  radically  changed  to  meet  the  demands 
of  this  procedure  and  its  corresponding  emphasis  on 
individual  achievement.  This  intimate  acquaintance 
with  pupils  at  work  under  the  type  of  directing  study 
set  forth  in  this  discussion  may  become  an  important 
factor  in  the  development  of  a  more  explicit  form  of 
educational  guidance  than  has  hitherto  been  conceived. 
Summary. — ^Two  principles  of  major  importance  are 
suggested  as  warrant  for  the  position  urged:  (i)  The 
principle  of  personal  growth,  which  emphasizes  the 
building  of  the  responsible  person;  (2)  the  principle 
of  co-operative  thinking  and  doing  in  which  the  em- 
phasis is  placed  upon  the  individual  as  a  member  of  a 
working  group  under  competent  leadership  within  a 
controlled  environment.  By  an  integration  of  these 
two  principles  the  school  through  its  procedure  con- 
tributes largely  to  the  working  out  of  individual  liberty 
regulated  by  law.  Such  a  procedure,  productively 
directed,  is  a  means  of  obviating  the  deadening  effects 
of  regimental  uniformity,  and  also  a  positive  method 
of  deformalizing  education,  while  at  the  same  time 
assuring  a  wholesome  development  of  the  genius  for 
co-operation  through  which  the  highest  and  best  ex- 
pression of  individualism  and  freedom  may  be  realized. 


CHAPTER   III 

THE  LEARNING  PROCESS 

Hortatory  Pedagogical  Ethics. — No  command  is 
more  frequently  given  in  the  classroom  than  this  gen- 
eral type:  "Pay  attention,  class!"  "Study  your 
lesson ! "  "Be  careful  now,  Susan ! "  "Think,  John ! " 
Pupils  are  exhorted  to  think,  to  study,  to  follow  direc- 
tions. Little  is  known  about  the  actual  behavior  of 
the  mind  in  mastering  the  situation  in  hand.  How 
We  Think  is  the  title  of  a  very  suggestive  book  by 
John  Dewey.  An  understanding  and  appreciation  of 
the  nature  of  thinking  might  help  many  a  teacher  in 
the  development  of  special  technics  designed  to  assist 
pupils  in  the  initiation,  at  least,  of  effective  ways  of 
using  the  mind.  Merely  to  exhort  the  pupil  to  think 
leaves  the  situation  in  a  negative  state.  If  the  pupil 
does  think  after  being  commanded  to  do  so,  the  credit 
for  doing  so  belongs  mainly  to  the  pupil.  Even  so, 
what  is  done  may  be  due  to  something  like  "the  heave 
of  the  will."  In  other  words,  the  results  we  get  by 
hortatory  methods  can  in  no  sense  be  attributed  to  a 
deliberate  and  explicit  analysis  of  study  habits  or  of 
the  way  the  mind  works. 

No  illusion  is  entertained  that  we  shall  ever  be  able 
to  examine  in  detail  the  processes  of  the  mind,  either  of 
our  own  mind  or  that  of  another.  In  the  problem 
raised  here  the  expectation  is  that  our  attitude  toward 
the  learner's  difficulty  may  be  appreciated,  and  per- 

90 


THE  LEARNING  PROCESS  91 

haps  modified,  as  we  learn  to  apply  psychology  and 
related  sciences  to  the  art  of  teaching.  The  real  ques- 
tion is,  are  we  able  now  to  analyze  the  learning  process 
and  upon  the  analysis  organize  procedures  that  will 
enable  the  pupil  to  use  his  powers  effectively  and  pro- 
ductively and  somewhat  deliberately  in  the  mastery 
of  school  problems?  Or,  shall  we  go  on  telling  pupils 
to  lift  themselves  by  tugging  away  at  their  boot-straps  ? 
It  may  be  that  we  shall  get  a  very  short  distance  be- 
yond the  stage  of  commanding  pupils  either  politely 
or  abruptly  "to  think"  or  *'to  study,"  until  we  have 
built  a  usable  body  of  new  experience  based  upon  a 
study  of  the  biological  foundations  of  human  behavior. 
Wholesome  exhortation  is  not  to  become  taboo. 
Human  nature  requires  an  inordinate  amount  of  per- 
suasion. Much  that  teachers  do  is  done  on  the  "tick- 
lish skin  of  poor  humanity."  The  good  teacher  knows 
how  to  make  use  of  judicious  praise.  It  is  very  difficult 
to  teach  boys  and  girls,  when  their  chief  object  is  not 
to  be  taught.  Let  any  child  who  tests  low  get  to  know 
it  and  we  might  as  well  brand  him  as  incompetent. 
If  his  school  work  has  been  hard  before,  the  peda- 
gogical scarlet  letter,  C,  tacked  on  him  makes  it  more 
so.  "What's  the  use?"  he  will  say  and  with  it  initia- 
tive drops  out  of  sight.  There  is  no  assurance  that 
education  is  about  to  become  so  scientific  and  imper- 
sonal as  to  warrant  the  belief  that  incentives  to  work 
may  be  dismissed.  The  cultivation  of  all  those  in- 
fluences which  contribute  to  worthy  effort,  steady 
application,  relentless  concentration  should  be  held  in 
the  highest  esteem.  All  those  who  practise  the  art 
of  education  with  real  boys  and  girls  know  the  mean- 
ing of  this  proposition.    It  is  the  essence  of  any  social 


92  DIRECTING   STUDY 

interpretation  of  teaching  that  much  stimulation  to 
effort  shall  be  employed.  No  doubt  any  adequate 
understanding  of  the  pupil's  study  habits  will  tend  to 
increase,  rather  than  to  diminish,  the  encouragers  to 
work.  At  all  events  let  us  be  clear  that  the  pupil  is 
not  to  be  set  off  in  more  or  less  isolation  and  told  to 
** paddle  his  own  canoe"  as  best  he  can,  or  to  work 
out  his  own  salvation  by  sheer  force  of  will.  Mutual- 
ity, a  shared  life,  an  honest  give-and-take,  will  be  even 
more  prominent  in  a  procedure  in  which  some  appre- 
ciation of  the  learner's  problem  is  indicated  than  is 
the  case  in  any  mechanical  theory  of  education. 

Teacher  Study. — If  a  new  general  method  is  to  be 
initiated  in  which  an  important  factor  shall  be  a  recog- 
nition and  appreciation  of  the  learning  processes  (habits 
of  work)  of  pupils,  then  it  would  appear  that  teachers 
should  study  their  own  habits  of  work,  their  own  learn- 
ing processes,  their  own  intellectual  method  in  order 
that  they  may  approach  this  new  procedure  with  some 
sympathetic  understanding  of  the  problem.  A  popular 
notion  prevails  with  respect  to  teaching  pupils  how  to 
study.  All  sorts  of  advice  have  been  offered.  For  the 
most  part  rules  and  regulations  have  been  suggested 
relating  to  certain  external  conditions,  such  as  regular 
hours  for  study,  favorable  environment,  proper  bodily 
conditions.  Another  type  of  suggestion  has  been  some- 
what hortatory  in  character  such  as  "Read  the  book," 
" Concentrate  attention,"  "Use  your  mind."  As  stated 
above,  these  forms  of  advice  should  be  continued. 

An  interesting  set  of  reactions  came  to  the  attention 
of  the  writer  upon  the  request  that  his  coworkers 
present  a  statement  of  the  most  significant  thing 
teachers  in  service  might  do  to  improve  their  teaching. 


THE  LEARNING  PROCESS  93 

The  report  which  provoked  keenest  discussion  was 
this  one:  "/  find  that  the  most  significant  thing  I  can 
do  to  improve  my  teaching  is  to  set  myself  the  task  of  learn- 
ing something  which  is,  comparably  speaking,  as  difficult 
for  me  to  master  as  the  task  I  set  my  pupils  is  for  them 
to  master,  and  in  mastering  my  new  problem  to  make  a 
careful,  objective,  analytical,  and  introspective  study  of 
my  own  habits  of  work  in  learning  what  I  set  out  to  mas- 
ter." To  do  this  heroic  thing  may  be  too  great  a  shock 
to  the  teaching  profession.  Actually  to  set  out  to 
learn  a  new  language,  or  to  commit  to  memory  Para- 
dise Lost,  or  to  learn  to  play  chess,  or  to  master  any 
one  of  a  thousand  things  that  might  be  mentioned,  and 
actually  to  make  a  study  of  the  method  by  which  this 
thing  is  learned,  keeping  a  diary  of  one's  experience — 
that  requires  heroism.  Yet,  may  this  not  be  the  price 
we  shall  have  to  pay  in  order  to  orient  ourselves  in- 
telligently and  scientifically  to  this  subtle  and  difficult 
problem  of  teaching  boys  and  girls  how  to  study?  It 
may  sound  quite  dogmatic  to  assert  that  teachers  will 
not  be  prepared  to  enter  into  a  sympathetic  appre- 
ciation of  the  learner's  actual  problem  until  they  them- 
selves have  examined  critically  their  own  habits  of 
work  under  some  controlled  experiment  in  the  learn- 
ing process.  Nevertheless,  it  may  be  urged  that 
reading  about  a  problem  of  this  sort  is  necessarily 
academic  and  prepares  no  one  for  an  intelligent  under- 
standing of  the  real  problem  confronting  the  teacher 
who  would  become  a  director  of  activity. 

In  passing,  it  may  be  fitting  to  remark  that  the  child 
has  done  considerable  thinking  before  entering  school. 
He  is  not  taught  to  think  any  more  than  he  is  taught 
to  walk  or  swim.     By  the  maturing  processes  of  life 


94  DIRECTING  STUDY 

under  biological  principles  and  social  controls  these 
activities  develop.  We  may  not  teach  the  boy  how 
to  swim  until  he  does  some  swimming,  and  the  essen- 
tial conditions  for  that  performance  are  the  boy  and 
water  deep  enough  for  the  operation  of  the  laws  of 
displacement  and  the  stimulus  to  effort.  After  the 
achievement  of  some  kind  of  walking  or  swimming 
something  can  be  done  (taught)  in  respect  of  changing 
or  modifying  the  stride  or  the  stroke.  The  popular 
notion  prevails  that  boys  and  girls  may  be,  yea  ought 
to  be,  taught  how  to  study.  It  may  be  that  we  shall 
have  to  make  a  similar  presupposition  and  allege  that 
unless  there  is  studying  already  going  on  little  can  be 
accomplished  in  seeking  to  improve  methods  of  study- 
ing. And  just  as  swimming  may  be  greatly  improved 
by  proper  instruction  and  training,  so  studying  by  the 
same  token  may  be  very  greatly  improved.  Dealing 
then  with  the  problem  of  how  to  study  means  that  we 
do  not  begin  de  novo  with  the  development  of  study- 
ing or  thinking,  as  such.  That  is  a  quality  of  the  hu- 
man already  there,  in  some  measure  at  least,  to  be 
directed  into  productive  lines  of  response.  So  much 
may  be  assumed  for  the  individual  in  full  and  func- 
tional possession  of  his  powers.  Moreover,  some  mea- 
sures need  to  be  adopted  antecedent  to  any  effective 
direction  in  the  how  of  studying,  such  as  having  a  boy 
who  wants  to  learn  or  who  wants  to  be  taught.  To 
bring  about  that  state  of  mind  it  may  be  necessary 
to  "adopt  the  constitution."  Effective  freedom  in 
learning  often  becomes  possible  after  that  event. 

Teaching  pupils  how  to  study  resolves  itself  as  a 
problem  into  an  examination  of  the  pupils'  habits  of 
work  and  the  development  of  technics  by  which  these 


THE  LEARNING  PROCESS  95 

habits  may  be  modified  in  the  direction  of  economical 
and  efl&cient  agencies  in  the  production  of  results  de- 
sired in  education.  There  is  no  promise  here  of  de- 
veloping a  technic  that  will  enable  the  teacher  to  get 
inside  the  pupil's  mind,  somehow,  to  burnish  it  up 
and  correct  defects  real  or  imaginary.  No  panacea  is 
being  offered  in  that  sense.  It  is  frankly  recognized 
that  each  individual  must  know  more  about  his  own 
intellectual  method  than  anybody  else.  What  may 
be  done  in  controls  will  be  found  in  the  cultivation  of 
those  influences  which  may  induce  the  learner  to  build 
for  himself  his  own  best  intellectual  method,  his  own 
best  habits  of  work.  For  each  individual  must  ac- 
tually create  his  own  personality  by  his  own  activity. 

Now,  the  suggestion  is  urged  that  the  teacher  (and 
the  supervisor)  will  be  able  to  direct  the  pupil  in  the 
building  of  better  habits  of  work,  assist  him  in  gain- 
ing a  sense  of  self-mastery  and  a  sense  of  adequacy  in 
using  his  mind,  teach  him  how  to  study  in  the  most 
efficient  manner,  if  he,  the  teacher,  has  gained  a  definite 
insight  into  his  own  habits  of  work  through  an  ex- 
perimentally controlled  study  of  some  achievement  in 
learning.  Two  examples  of  this  type  of  analysis  are 
included  here  merely  for  illustrative  purposes.  They 
are  both  rather  simple  problems;  they  have  the  ap- 
parent merit  of  being  objectively  and,  in  a  way,  quanti- 
tatively measurable.  In  other  words,  the  learner  may 
keep  a  record  of  successive  performances  with  a  bit 
of  tabulation.  Introspective  notes  kept  with  the  tabu- 
lations afford  material  for  raising  productive  ques- 
tions for  discussion  of  educational  dogmas  of  various 
sorts. 

I.  The  first  one  is  the  recognition  of  a  visual  pat- 


96  DIRECTING  STUDY 

tern,  a  simple  drawing  (meaningless)  made  up  of 
straight  and  curved  lines  with  angles  in  a  somewhat 
regular  succession.  The  figure  is  exposed  for  about 
two  seconds  some  five  or  ten  times  in  succession  with 
time  enough  between  exposures  for  the  respondent  to 
reproduce  as  much  of  the  figure  upon  each  exposure 
as  he  can.  Each  attempt  of  the  respondent  is  recorded 
on  a  separate  card  and  turned  down  after  each  record 
is  made.  After  the  experiment  these  cards  are  ar- 
rayed in  order  and  a  tabulation  is  made  of  the  number 
of  "corrects"  of  straight  lines,  curved  lines,  and  angles 
in  each  attempt  at  reproduction  of  the  visual  pattern. 
Such  notes  of  the  respondent's  introspective  analysis 
as  can  be  given  are  recorded.  This  experiment  in  learn- 
ing is  quickly  done.  It  is  merely  suggestive  as  to 
method.  Some  interesting  observations  may  be  made 
by  working  rather  stressfully  the  method  of  analogy. 
Certain  inferences  about  school  practices  may  be  rein- 
forced. 

A,  p.  97,  is  the  visual  pattern  used  in  this  experi- 
ment. B  represents  the  successive  steps  of  a  learner 
in  mastering  the  pattern — an  adult  of  some  years  of 
teaching  experience  and  a  person  of  methodical  habits. 
Nine  attempts  were  made.* 

The  first  part  of  the  pattern  was  mastered  in  the 
first  trial  to  the  extent  of  four  lines  in  correct  order. 

In  the  second  trial  the  first  3  lines  were  held  and 
the  4th  lost;  difficulty  was  encountered  in  the  5th  and 
6th  lines.  Obviously  attention  was  being  directed 
vigorously  to  the  middle  part  of  the  figure. 

In  the  third  trial  the  4th  line  was  corrected  and 
*  Judd,  C.  H.,  Psychology  of  High  School  Subjects,  chap.  III. 


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THE  REPRESENTATIONS  IN   EACH   STEP  TELL   THE   STORY 
OF   THIS   RESPONDENT 


98  DIRECTING   STUDY 

progress  was  made  toward  mastery  of  the  middle  part 
of  the  figure;  the  angle  between  lines  5  and  6  was  re- 
corded. Note  the  fact  that  lines  7  and  8  are  correctly- 
reproduced. 

In  the  fourth  trial  there  is  a  loss  of  two  points  over 
the  third.  Lines  7  and  8  do  not  appear.  The  central 
part  of  the  figure  is  still  holding  attention. 

In  the  fifth  trial  a  distinct  gain  is  made.  Line  5  is 
correctly  reproduced.  The  gain  in  the  third  in  re- 
spect of  lines  7  and  8  is  still  submerged. 

In  the  sixth  trial  the  pattern  is  correctly  reproduced 
through  the  8th  line  and  it  would  appear  that  the 
lines  are  now  learned  up  to  that  point.  No  break- 
down appears  in  the  last  three  trials. 

In  the  seventh  trial,  the  pattern  is  completed  with 
the  exception  of  the  loth  line;  the  curve  is  represented 
in  the  wrong  direction. 

It  is  significant  that  that  same  error  recurs  in  the 
eighth  trial. 

The  ninth  trial  resulted  in  a  perfect  reproduction  in 
so  far  as  the  order  of  straight  and  curved  lines  go  and 
the  general  form  of  the  pattern. 

The  respondent  was  aware  of  difiiculty  in  the  mid- 
dle part  of  the  figure,  beginning  with  the  second  trial. 
In  the  analysis  mention  might  have  been  made  of  the 
angles  and  the  oblique  lines,  size  of  angles  and  length 
of  lines.  It  has  been  thought  best  to  make  the  analysis 
as  simple  as  possible. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  no  two  individuals 
would  show  the  same  progress  in  this  simple  bit  of 
learning.  Any  one  can  test  it  and  acquire  first-hand 
data  on  individual  differences.  Obviously  an  array 
of  the  results  of  a  dozen  individuals  would  disclose 


THE  LEARNING   PROCESS  99 

many  points  of  difference  depending  somewhat  on  ex- 
perience, set  of  the  mind,  and  all  sorts  of  variables  in 
the  human  situation.  One  outstanding  feature  of 
them  all,  however,  is  a  general  scheme  of  mastery; 
improvement  is  going  on  in  each  one;  gains  and  losses 
are  recorded;  the  figure  is  vigorously  attacked  in  some 
particular  part  from  time  to  time.  As  a  rule,  the  first 
part  of  the  figure  is  attacked  first  and  some  two  or 
three  lines  of  the  first  part  of  it  are  held  in  correct  posi- 
tion throughout  the  experiment.  Occasionally  an 
individual  is  found  who  attacks  the  last  part  of  the 
pattern  first,  or  selects  some  striking  part  of  the  middle 
of  the  pattern.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  no  two  persons 
work  exactly  alike,  the  number  of  try-outs  before  a 
complete  mastery  is  gained  varies;  in  this  particular 
visual  pattern  the  number  of  exposures  runs  from  six 
or  seven  up  to  twelve  or  fifteen  for  persons  of  about 
the  same  general  experience  as  that  of  the  respondent 
given  above. 

When  we  come  to  the  early  stages  of  learning,  let 
us  say  with  the  child  in  his  first  efforts  to  master  words, 
no  such  elaborate  organization  of  experience  is  found 
as  that  for  the  adult  facing  the  problem  of  the  recog- 
nition of  the  visual  pattern.  One's  orientation  to  the 
figure  is  a  tremendously  significant  factor.  Consider, 
for  example,  the  child's  first  steps  in  the  mastery  of 
the  letters  in  the  word  cat.  He  is  confronted  with  a 
visual  pattern  quite  as  complex  for  him  as  this  mean- 
ingless pattern  is  for  his  teacher.  Up  and  down,  right 
and  left,  the  order  of  succession  of  lines,  methods  of 
combining  and  grouping — all  these  habits  of  mind 
constitute  a  part  of  the  background  for  the  adult.  The 
child  may  be  only  in  the  initial  stages  of  such  a  com- 


100  DIRECTING  STUDY 

plex  organization.  Hence,  a  thing  which  is  perfectly 
easy  for  the  teacher  may  be  most  confusing  and  difficult 
for  the  pupil.  We  as  teachers  need  to  be  reminded  ever- 
lastingly of  backgrounds. 

It  will  be  suggestive  to  think  of  each  one  of  the  steps 
in  the  illustration  above  as  a  day,  a  week,  or  a  month 
in  a  bona-fide  learning  enterprise  in  school,  such  as  nine 
days  in  a  particular  topic  (challenge)  or  principle  in 
geometry,  nine  weeks  in  the  pursuit  of  the  essentials 
of  English  grammar,  or  nine  months  in  the  first  year 
of  a  foreign  language.  Some  appreciation  of  the  prob- 
lem of  the  learner  may  be  gained  by  working  the 
analogy  for  all  it  is  worth.  May  it  not  happen  that 
the  pupil  encounters  in  the  fourth  or  fifth  week  (step 
or  stage),  for  example,  some  confusion  comparable  to 
that  indicated  in  the  study  of  the  visual  pattern  ?  Or 
may  it  not  be  perfectly  possible  to  find  the  pupil  be- 
wildered over  the  mass  of  brute  facts  about  the  fifth 
or  sixth  day  in  a  study  of  Henry  VIII  and  his  wives 
or  what  not?  To  be  sure,  there  is  no  regularity  in  the 
appearance  of  difficulties  in  learning;  they  do  not  come 
by  the  clock  at  all.  This  is  no  time  to  talk  in  terms  of 
finality,  absolutism,  or  dogmatism.  Only  the  general 
scheme  of  a  unit  of  learning  may  be  laid  out.  What 
happens  in  stages  of  learning  will  always  be  unique. 
Each  individual  will  exhibit  his  own  mode  of  behavior; 
even  that  will  be  a  changing  order.  The  individual  is 
too  complex,  of  too  multiple  warp  and  woof,  for  prophecy. 
No  logic  would  enable  a  most  intelligent  person  con- 
fronted for  the  first  time  with  the  elements  oxygen 
and  hydrogen  to  predict  that,  when  brought  together 
in  a  chemical  union,  water  would  be  the  product.  It 
would  be  just  as  absurd  to  try  to  tell  in  advance  of  the 


THE  LEARNING  PROCESS  101 

journey  what  the  form  of  the  pattern  would  be  in  the 
j&fth  or  tenth  step  as  it  would  be  to  lay  claim  to  an 
omniscience  that  would  enable  one  to  predict  the  fif- 
teenth move  ahead  in  a  game  of  chess. 

This  example  of  learning,  above,  can  be  carried 
through  in  five  minutes.  And  yet  if  any  one  with  a 
pinch  of  scientific  imagination  will  go  through  with 
such  an  experiment,  and  reflect  upon  his  own  experi- 
ence in  terms  of  it,  a  totally  new  slant  on  the  exceed- 
ingly complex  problem  of  learning  may  be  gained,  as 
well  as  a  way  of  thinking  about  teaching  decidedly 
productive  in  outlook.  It  merely  illustrates  a  possible 
method.  The  entire  series  of  trials  should  be  regarded 
as  a  unit.  If  the  pattern  could  have  been  reproduced 
upon  the  first  exposure  there  would  have  been  no  prob- 
lem of  learning;  the  pattern  would  have  been  too  easy. 
Viewed  as  a  unit,  there  is  evidence  of  progress  through- 
out the  experiment.  There  were  apparent  breakdowns ; 
some  things  learned  were  forgotten,  to  use  the  con- 
ventional pedagogy  of  the  classroom.  A  truer  way  to 
view  it  is  to  say  that  these  mistakes  are  evidences  of 
progress.  Just  what  is  going  on  in  habit  formation 
and  in  shifting  of  attention  may  not  be  known.  The 
significant  fact  is  progress  toward  essential  mastery. 
The  exact  nature  of  the  processes  of  organization  is 
not  understood. 

By  using  such  an  experiment  as  a  means  of  initiat- 
ing discussion  of  the  process  of  learning,  a  whole  nest 
of  real  problems  may  be  disclosed.  The  pupil,  for  ex- 
ample, encounters  difficulty  in  the  third  week  of  He- 
brew or  geometry.  Teachers  have  been  known  to 
pronounce  final  judgment  upon  the  capacity  of  the 
pupil  to  learn  it  at  a  corresponding  stage  in  the  whole 


102  DIRECTING  STUDY 

process  or  unit  of  learning.  It  would  be  easy  to  dis- 
miss him  from  the  class.  "Take  him  out.  He  can't 
learn  my  subject.  Put  him  in  typewriting,  manual 
training,  or  cooking.  He  cannot  do  synthetic  think- 
ing." This  has  a  familiar  ring  even  to-day  in  the  Amer- 
ican high  school.  The  analogy  may  not  be  overworked 
if  it  is  suggested  that  the  pupil  may  be  in  a  stage  of 
learning  comparable  to  the  third  or  fourth  step  in  the 
case  of  B  above.  Pupils  do  not  learn  the  fine  points 
of  the  game  with  a  regimental  uniformity.  Just  as  a 
boy  may  work  for  weeks  on  the  trapeze  before  he  gains 
a  sense  of  fine  adjustment,  so  he  may  diligently  pursue 
a  new  subject  like  geometry  or  technical  grammar 
many  weeks  (six  to  ten  or  more)  before  he  begins  to 
see  what  the  thing  really  means.  If  each  trial  for  B 
above  represented  one  week's  or  one  month's  work  in 
a  foreign-language  study,  stenography,  or  chemistry, 
would  it  not  be  perfectly  clear  that  mastery  does  not 
come  in  a  day,  and  would  it  not  be  equally  clear  that 
mistakes  and  partial  achievement  are  evidences  of 
progress?  Certainly  the  unit  of  learning  should  be 
studied  with  the  utmost  concern.  Dismissing  the  pupils 
from  the  course  will  not  improve  either  the  course  or  teach- 
ing. It  is  too  often  a  practice  by  which  responsibility 
is  escaped. 

Another  observation  from  this  simple  illustration  of 
a  learning  process  in  the  recognition  of  a  visual  pat- 
tern is  helpful  in  every-day  teaching.  A  thing  is 
taught  one  day  with  great  emphasis;  a  lucid  expla- 
nation is  made;  pupils  exhibit  every  external  mani- 
festation of  perfect  understanding.  The  next  day  a 
bewildering  situation  arises.  Nobody  knows  any- 
thing about  it.     What  was  brought   out    so   vividly 


THE  LEARNING  PROCESS  103 

seems  to  have  evaporated.  Stretching  again  the  an- 
alogy for  all  it  will  bear,  let  us  consider  the  matter  in 
terms  of  the  stages  of  learning  in  the  case  of  the 
visual  pattern.  Suppose  the  thing  in  question  is  rep- 
resented by  the  third  trial  above  in  which  the  7th 
and  8th  lines  were  learned,  and  that  the  fourth  and 
fifth  trials  above  represented  the  next  two  days  when 
the  teacher  siphons  the  vacuums  in  quest  of  the  lost  lines 
— in  quest  of  the  thing  so  vividly  taught  only  a  day 
or  two  since.  Teachers  have  been  known  to  grow 
quite  impatient  over  this  situation.  The  issue  is  ex- 
ceedingly complex.  So  many  times  we  find  these  new 
concepts  and  facts  introduced  into  our  classroom  work 
playing  hide  and  seek  with  each  other.  It  is  the  way 
of  learning,  the  way  of  habit  formation.  Steady  and 
persistent  practice  gradually  consolidates  the  lines  until 
the  whole  stands  out  in  clear  perspective.  Perhaps  we 
should  expect  some  facts  in  the  learning  process  (in 
the  mass-meeting  of  the  mind)  to  stand  aside  when 
some  commanding  fact  rises  to  do  senatorial  duty. 
What  the  pedagogue  brands  as  mistakes  may  be  after 
all  real  evidences  of  progress.  The  reason  for  the  tem- 
porary timidity  of  a  shy  fact  may  be  due  to  fixation  of 
attention  upon  a  vital  part  of  the  process  quite  over- 
shadowing for  the  time  being  a  non-essential  factor, 
relatively  speaking.  In  the  illustration  above  it  is 
evident  that  the  middle  part  of  the  figure  was  demand- 
ing attention.  Concentration  at  the  point  of  major 
difficulty  released  the  grip  on  a  certain  gain  in  the 
third  trial.  Up  through  the  fourth  and  fifth  trials 
these  two  items  (7th  and  8th  lines)  dropped  outside 
the  focus  of  attention,  out  in  the  fringe  or  twilight  of 
consciousness,  perhaps;  but  they  were  not  lost  (for- 


104  DIRECTING  STUDY 

gotten)  necessarily.  In  bringing  together  the  items  of 
experience  in  a  new  synthesis  in  subsequent  trials,  all 
these  apparently  forgotten  elements  were  gathered  up 
in  perfect  order.  So  it  may  be  in  every  vital  learning 
process. 

It  would  be  a  gratuitous  misapprehension  to  infer 
that  such  a  study  as  this  experiment  contemplates 
would  lead  to  maudlin  sympathy  or  soft  pedagogy. 
On  the  contrary,  a  genuine  sympathy  based  upon  some 
shadow  of  scientific  understanding  of  the  nature  of 
the  learning  process  might  well  be  expressed  in  terms 
of  intellectual  severity  and  uncompromising  concen- 
tration. The  argument  is  not  to  accept  "mistakes" 
apologetically,  but  rather  to  see  them  in  a  much  larger 
matrix  of  learning  than  is  usually  the  situation  in  the 
daily  lesson  emphasis. 

Let  the  supervisor  and  inspector  take  warning. 
They  may  happen  round  when  the  learning  stages  are 
in  evidence  only  to  the  teacher,  something  comparable 
to  the  fourth  and  fifth  steps  in  this  experiment.  They, 
too,  need  to  go  through  this  type  of  critical  examina- 
tion of  their  own  learning  processes  in  some  controlled 
experiment  if  they  would  not  lose  their  pedagogical 
souls.  It  is  so  easy  to  indulge  in  post-mortems  about 
teaching.  Visitors'  remarks  may  be  perfectly  honest 
yet  inane.  Folk,  seeing  the  game  from  the  bleachers, 
may  talk  just  more  or  less  interesting  gossip.  They 
may  utterly  fail  to  appraise  justly  what  they  think 
they  see;  they  may  not  see  what  they  think  they  see. 
Calling  a  thing  it  does  not  make  it  exactly  it.  The 
danger  lies  in  the  habit  of  squeezing  life  into  some  alge- 
braic formula. 

Moreover,  the  measurer  of  the  product  (the  results) 


THE  LEARNING  PROCESS  105 

of  education  should  be  aware  of  the  fact  that  very 
much  indeed  depends  upon  the  stage  in  which  the 
learner  happens  to  be  when  examined.  The  learner 
would  make  a  poor  showing  if  caught  in  certain  stages 
of  the  developing  process  as  indicated  in  the  illustra- 
tion. It  is  one  thing  to  measure  a  product;  it  is  a 
vastly  different  thing  to  guide  the  learner  in  the  pro- 
duction of  results.  The  latter  is  the  eternal  problem 
of  the  teacher.  We  should  remember,  too,  that  a  sub- 
sequent performance  may  be  the  means  of  clarifying 
a  previous  bit  of  work.  The  essential  element  which 
might  enable  the  student  to  hold  in  solution  past  ex- 
periences may  come  relatively  late  in  the  development 
of  a  subject  made  up  of  two  or  more  courses  of  instruc- 
tion. Algebra,  for  example,  may  be  an  illuminating 
reagent  for  certain  arithmetical  processes;  a  foreign 
language  may  clear  up  grammatical  diJficulties  in  the 
vernacular. 

2.  Another  example  is  included  for  purposes  of  illus- 
tration and  method.  The  digits,  i,  2,  3,  and  4,  can  be 
arranged  in  twenty-four  different  combinations.*.  Two 

*  1342,  4213,  3412,  4312,  2413,  2143,  1243,  2431,  2134,  1432,  3421, 
1324,  4132,  3241,  3142,  4231,  3124, 1423,  2341,  4123,  3214,  2314  (1234 

and  4321). 

If  the  number  of  digits  is  doubled,  i  to  8  inclusive,  there  are  40,320 
possible  combinations,  not  just  twice  24.  This  fact  merely  suggests 
the  complexity  of  the  problem  of  learning  and  the  difficulty  of  evaluat- 
ing any  single  trait,  quality,  or  factor  when  three  or  more  variables 
are  involved.  In  the  attempt  to  determine  reading  ability  it  is  ex- 
tremely difficult  to  weigh  three  such  quaUties  as  rate,  comprehension, 
hardness.  There  is  no  graphic  device  by  which  to  represent  simvd- 
taneously  these  three  traits.  Correlations  may  be  worked  out  be- 
tween any  two  of  them.  Unless  the  third  factor  in  every  case  is  checked, 
the  results  may  be  misleading.  For  example,  a  high  rate  of  reading 
with  a  high  degree  of  comprehension  may  be  exhibited  in  relatively 
simple  material,  or  in  material  that  at  one  time  was  difficult  for  the 


106  DIRECTING   STUDY 

of  these  are  rejected  in  the  experiment — the  1234  and 
the  4321  combinations.  Twenty- two  small  cards  are 
used  and  upon  each  one  is  written  one  of  these  com- 
binations, as  4132,  3412,  1243,  1342,  2341,  etc.,  until 
the  twenty-two  combinations  are  written.  The  opera- 
tor exposes  the  first  card  in  the  series,  turns  it  down; 
then  exposes  the  second  one,  turns  it  down;  and  be- 
fore exposing  the  third  one  the  respondent  records  the 
first  one.  Each  exposure  should  be  about  two  seconds 
in  duration,  and  the  interval  between  exposures  about 
ten  seconds.  The  second  one  is  recorded  after  the 
third  one  is  turned  down,  and  so  on  through  the 
twenty-two  cards.  The  last  card  to  be  exposed  in 
each  trial  is  the  first  one.  By  so  doing  the  respondent 
is  holding  the  last  number  in  mind  while  getting  the 
next  one  (the  first)  on  its  second  exposure.  After  a 
few  trials,  perhaps  three  to  five,  the  cards  should  be 
shuffled  so  that  the  respondent  may  not  memorize  the 

learner,  but  has  become  familiar  through  study.  The  rate  may  be 
very  low  in  very  difficult  (new)  material,  and  with  it  a  high  degree 
of  comprehension.  Other  possibilities  are  obvious.  No  criticism  is 
being  raised  against  standard  tests  as  such.  The  only  issue  urged  in 
this  connection  is  the  complexity  of  the  problem  of  learning.  In  the 
learning  process  the  ability  of  the  learner  in  using  the  capital  letter 
and  ability  in  placing  the  "sacred  comma"  in  denoting  the  possessive 
are  hardly  comparable  magnitudes;  the  latter  may  be  a  hundredfold 
more  difficult  at  a  given  stage  in  learning.  After  responses  are  reduced 
to  the  copy-mind  level  a  high  degree  of  certitude  may  be  established  in 
comparing  results.  Tests  of  all  sorts,  however,  fail  to  throw  any  con- 
siderable light  ahead  on  the  problems  of  learning.  The  statistical  method 
is  unreliable  in  dealing  with  the  probability  curve.  The  mathematics 
of  variability  or  relativity  of  number  is  essential  in  making  any  ade- 
quate study  of  the  relative  frequency  of  traits  in  a  complex.  The  way 
a  few  simple  inert  digits  behave  in  these  kaleidoscopic  patterns  of  num- 
ber combinations  ought  to  suggest  to  the  student  of  human  behavior 
something  of  the  complexity  of  the  problem  of  appraising  elements  or 
traits  which  are  in  constant  flux. 


THE  LEARNING  PROCESS  107 

series.  The  order  of  the  number  combinations  should 
be  listed  in  a  column  after  each  new  shuffling. 

The  respondent  after  each  complete  run  of  the  series 
of  numbers  arrays  his  results  opposite  the  correct  list 
and  records  the  number  of  "rights"  and  ''wrongs"  as 
well  as  "attempts."  The  omission  of  a  digit  or  the 
displacement  of  a  digit  in  the  order  of  digits  in  a  par- 
ticular combination  is,  in  either  case,  recorded  as  an 
error.  For  example,  if  the  number  is  4132,  and  the 
respondent  writes  1432,  two  errors  or  "wrongs"  are 
entered  and  two  "rights."  If  the  number  is  1342  and 
the  respondent  writes  4132,  three  "wrongs"  and  one 
"right"  will  be  recorded.  One  "wrong"  rarely  occurs. 
The  respondent  is  directed  to  write  four  digits  each 
time,  using  o  if  need  be  to  fill  in  a  four-place  number 
(although  the  o  to  the  left  of  whole  numbers  would 
have  no  significance  mathematically).  The  o  would 
be  rarely  employed. 

One  respondent  carried  this  experiment  through  a 
period  of  five  weeks,  recording  the  results  of  his  work 
and  making  notes  of  an  introspective  character  each 
day.  At  each  sitting  the  series  was  run  through  twice. 
The  percentage  of  "rights"  was  34  per  cent  the  first 
day.  After  a  period  of  three  weeks'  practice  the  record 
was  held  consistently  for  the  last  two  weeks  above 
90  per  cent  of  "rights,"  the  highest  point  being  98% 
per  cent  of  "rights."  No  perfect  score  was  made. 
In  this  particular  curve  of  learning  there  was  no  evi- 
dence of  an  intermediate  plateau  where  the  respondent 
maintained  a  certain  level  for  a  few  days.  The  level 
at  the  end  of  the  period  represented  a  stage  in  learning 
in  which  further  practice  apparently  led  to  no  improve- 
ment. 


108  DIRECTING  STUDY 

It  is  not  possible  to  include  any  considerable  part 
of  the  respondent's  introspective  notes.  A  few  may- 
prove  illuminating.  Bearing  in  mind  the  fact  that 
two  number  combinations  had  to  be  held  in  memory 
at  every  step  in  the  procedure,  one  progressively  dis- 
appearing as  soon  as  written,  the  other  appearing  at 
once — a  moving  series  almost  kaleidoscopic  in  char- 
acter— the  reader  may  know  that  the  respondent  finds 
himself  in  a  state  of  confusion  at  the  beginning  of  the 
practice.  There  is  nothing  comparable  to  beginner's 
luck  in  this  experiment.  The  law  of  chance,  whatever 
it  is  in  this  problem,*  does  not  seem  to  operate  in  the 
learner's  favor.  While  it  would  seem  to  be  a  perfectly 
easy  thing  to  write  four  digits  in  some  order,  the  fact 
of  the  business  is  these  simple  characters  seem  to  con- 
trive to  get  in  the  way  of  each  other.  The  order  of 
the  digits  in  the  number  combinations,  shifting  as  it 
does  in  each  new  set,  requires  intense  concentration 
to  hold  any  digit  in  its  proper  position. 

May  it  not  be  that  the  pupil  finds  himself  in  a  some- 
what similar  state  of  confusion  in  the  initial  stages  of 
a  new  subject  when  new  concepts  and  new  arrange- 
ments of  ideas  come  flooding  his  mind  in  rapid  succes- 
sion? After  the  teacher  has  critically  examined  his 
own  habits  of  learning  some  difficult  thing,  he,  at  least, 
should  be  aware  of  such  possibilities  in  his  pupils  as 
they  set  out  upon  the  adventure  of  mastering  a  for- 
eign language,  geometry,  or  any  new  enterprise. 

These  four  simple  digits  in  the  experiment  furnish  a 
basis  for  many  interesting  observations.  In  scoring 
the  results  it  will  be  recalled  that  the  cleavage  did  not 

*  The  law  of  chance  in  this  type  of  problem  may  be  proportionate  to 
the  square  of  displacement.    That  is  not  at  all  certain. 


THE  LEARNING  PROCESS  109 

fall  between  "rights"  and  "wrongs,"  as  is  so  often 
assumed  in  tests  and  examinations.  The  number  com- 
binations were  not  reproduced  as  wholly  right  or  wholly- 
wrong  with  any  high  degree  of  regularity.  Results 
could  be  partially  correct  with  many  variations. 

In  measuring  the  child's  spelling,  a  word  is  checked 
off  as  right  or  wrong.  That  is  the  way  the  statistical 
method  is  operated.  The  temptation  is  to  tell  statis- 
tical lies  about  the  learner:  indulgence  in  pathological 
fabrications  is  only  one  step  removed.  The  child  spells 
arithmetic,  a  rith  me  tec.  It  is  marked  wrong  despite 
the  fact  that  three  syllables  out  of  four  and  nine  letters 
of  the  ten  are  correctly  recorded.  Why  not  weight 
the  results  in  some  such  manner  ?  As  a  matter  of  fact 
the  word  is  perhaps  psychologically  more  right  than 
wrong.  One  syllable  or  one  letter  may  not  be  as  dif- 
ficult as  another  in  the  word.  In  the  learning  process 
it  is  probable  that  equal  units  of  differences  will  never 
be  established.  But,  it  is  just  as  sound  and  scientific 
to  weight  syllables  and  letters  as  it  is  to  try  to  work 
out  a  scale  with  words  as  units.  To  the  learner  plac- 
ing of  letters  according  to  conventions  in  spelling  may 
be  quite  as  complicated  as  the  recognition  of  the  num- 
ber combinations  in  the  experiment. 

This  dilemma  is  much  more  evident  in  the  solution 
of  problems  or  situations  involving  several  steps  in 
which  single  stages  may  in  themselves  be  perfectly 
correct.  In  fact,  nine-tenths,  more  or  less,  of  the  solu- 
tion may  be  correct.  To  strike  it  off  with  a  right  or 
wrong  appraisal  leaves  out  of  consideration  the  whole 
business  of  learning  and  its  psychological  implications. 
Aside  from  expressing  in  mathematical,  statistical, 
and  quantitative  terms  the  exact  and  verifiable  values 


110  DIRECTING  STUDY 

for  different  parts  of  any  learning  process,  it  must  be. 
evident  that  the  elements  are  in  constant  flux  in  the 
stream  of  life.  The  learner  throws  down  the  type,  as  it 
were,  and  reconstructs  a  new  combination  or  synthesis 
out  of  the  elements  employed  in  thinking.  One  syllable 
of  a  word  is  never  just  as  difficult,  nor  half  as  difTicult, 
nor  one-tenth  as  difficult,  as  another  for  the  actual 
learner,  statistical  method  to  the  contrary  notwith- 
standing. If,  instead  of  four  digit^,  the  letters  of  the 
alphabet  are  studied  in  terms  of  their  endless  permuta- 
tions, it  would  seem  a  hopeless  task  to  weight  the  posi- 
tions of  letters  in  spelling.  The  alphabetical  mind 
{i.  e.,  the  mind  that  has  passed  beyond  the  copy  stage 
and  is  able  to  throw  down  the  type  and  create  new 
words,  ideas,  etc.)  takes  care  of  all  that  in  its  own  way 
and  transcends  any  quantitative  representation  of  the 
process. 

The  fact  that  equal  units  of  differences  are  very 
difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  establish  in  a  learning 
process  is  illustrated  in  the  5  th  and  6th  lines  of  the 
visual  pattern  (p.  97).  A  simple  angle  is  formed  by 
these  two  lines;  yet  note  the  difficulty  the  respondent 
had  in  getting  a  correct  placement  in  the  whole  pat- 
tern. In  themselves,  the  lines  and  angles  would  have 
been  perfectly  easy;  hut  when  simple  elements  of  learn- 
ing enter  into  new  and  complex  situations,  they  do  not 
fall  into  such  simple  categories  as  they  do  when  standing 
out  alone.  The  question  arises.  Is  one  element  in  a 
learning  process  as  difficult  as  another?  Is  it  not  after 
all  a  question  similar  to  that  of  the  chameleon-hued 
character  of  words  which  take  on  new  meaning  with  every 
use?  Learning,  actual  creative  thinking,  is  carried  on 
at  the  point  of  crisis,  at  the  point  of  reconstruction  of 


THE  LEARNING  PROCESS  111 

experience  in  endless  recombinations  and  permutations 
of  simple  elements. 

In  a  social-practical  sense  the  word  arithmetic 
spelled  with  a  tec  instead  of  a  tic  is  incorrect.  But,  in 
a  learning  process,  the  teacher  accepts  the  word  as 
three-fourths  correct  (in  terms  of  syllables)  and  pro- 
ceeds at  once  to  have  the  child  attack  the  word  at  the 
particular  point  of  difficulty.  The  learner's  task  is  to 
give  explicit  attention  to  the  step  or  stage  in  which 
diflSculty  is  encountered.  If  he  spells  his  goat  pho- 
netically and  arrives  with  a  gote,  two  letters  are  placed 
correctly  by  the  requirements  of  convention,  but  psy- 
chologically the  learning  act  was  completed.  It  is 
not  the  learner's  fault  that  society  does  not  agree  with 
him;  convention  got  the  learner's  goat  in  this  instance. 
There  are  times  when  the  copy  mind  must  be  employed 
in  learning.  It  happens  in  the  spelling  of  some  words. 
It  would  be  a  high  type  of  teaching  and  learning  that 
would  dominate  in  such  matters,  in  order  that  the 
mirror-mindei  pupil  should  not  be  developed  in  all 
sorts  of  learning.  Bright  pupils  may  often  be  those 
who  merely  reflect  the  printed  page  and  the  conclu- 
sions of  others. 

The  respondent  in  the  number  series  soon  began 
to  invent  devices  which  might  aid  him  in  holding  the 
forms  in  mind.  One  device  was  to  use  the  four  fingers 
of  the  left  hand,  assigning  to  each  finger  a  digit:  the 
index-finger  was  assigned  i,  the  little  finger  4,  and  so 
on.  The  digit  that  appeared  first  on  the  card  (in  thou- 
sands place)  was  held  in  mind  by  pressing  to  the  table 
the  finger  which  bore  the  digit  in  that  place.  That 
seemed  to  work  fairly  well  for  a  time.  The  first  digit 
in  the  combination  was  being  reported  more  accurately 


112  DIRECTING   STUDY 

than  the  last.  When  the  attempt  was  made  to  extend 
this  device  by  holding  in  mind  two  digits  represented 
by  two  fingers  pressed  on  the  table,  the  whole  ma- 
chinery broke  down.  It  simply  became  too  complex. 
The  device  was  carried  too  far.  This  experience  sug- 
gests the  possibility  of  devising  schemes  of  learning 
which  really  obstruct  the  free  play  of  one's  powers  of 
mind. 

One  device  which  seemed  to  work  throughout  the 
experiment  consisted  in  a  rhythmical  grouping  of  the 
numbers  by  twos.  There  was  a  visible  swing  of  the 
body  in  response  to  this  device.  For  example,  4312 
was  broken  into  something  like  two  measures  43  and 
12  with  an  accent  on  the  first  part  of  the  measure,  as 
it  were.  This  rhythmic  swing  was  carried  out  to  the 
last  of  the  experiment.  It  seemed  to  become  a  habit 
of  the  respondent  to  initiate  it  just  before  the  daily 
practice  was  begun.  Some  set  of  the  mind  or  mood  or 
disposition  may  contribute  to  successful  performance 
and  become  such  a  noticeable  accompaniment  of  the 
act  as  to  be  capable  of  direct  initiation.  It  may  mean 
nothing  more  than  putting  oneself  in  some  habitual 
attitude  when  learning  or  studying  is  the  thing  in  hand. 

One  other  type  of  introspective  analysis  is  illuminat- 
ing. Some  of  the  best  records  of  this  respondent  were 
made  on  the  days  when  he  went  into  the  practice  with 
a  feeling  of  ineptitude  for  learning.  On  one  occasion 
he  reported  that  he  started  in  with  a  severe  headache, 
yet  in  spite  of  it  he  made  a  high  score.  The  same  thing 
happened  when  fatigue  was  reported  at  the  beginning 
of  a  practice.  Low  scores  were  sometimes  made  when 
he  went  into  it  with  a  feeling  of  success  and  a  zest  for 
living.    All  this  suggests  that  we  probably  know  very 


THE  LEARNING  PROCESS  113 

little  about  the  situations,  physical  and  biological  and 
social,  which  actually  condition  learning. 

This  example  of  learning  has  been  elaborated  for 
the  express  purposes  of  illustrating  rather  fully  a  con- 
trolled experiment  and  of  indicating  the  task  involved 
in  a  serious  attempt  at  teacher  study.  One  who  goes 
through  a  learning  process  with  some  of  these  points 
in  mind  ought  to  be  able  to  begin  the  study  of  pupils 
at  work  with  a  high  degree  of  intelligence  and  a  whole- 
some sympathy.  The  errors  of  reasoning  by  analogy 
will  need  to  be  guarded.  A  new  and  fresh  analysis  of 
one's  own  behavior  should  not  be  neglected.  Memories 
grow  dim  in  time  and  are  readily  distorted  by  repeti- 
tion.   Backgrounds  are  easily  lost.* 

A  careful  study  of  habits  of  work  in  the  mastery  of 
any  skill  or  intellectual  feat  will  serve  to  emphasize 
the  problem  of  learning.  It  is  difficult  to  devise  meth- 
ods of  representing  progress  and  results  in  these  under- 
takings. A  controlled  experiment  in  which  some  aspect 
of  the  learning  process  can  be  delineated  in  graphical 
or  mathematical  terms  will  perhaps  prove  most  sug- 
gestive.f 

Undirected  Preparation  of  Lessons. — In  the  lesson- 
hearing  school  with  its  regimental  uniformity  the 
common  practice  is  to  assign  a  set  lesson  for  undirected 
preparation,  usually  for  home  preparation  in  the  upper 
grades  and  high  school.  The  class  period  is  used,  in 
large  measure,  for  the  purpose  of  testing  the  pupils' 
mastery  of  the  lesson.     Recitation  and  explanation 

*  Judd,  C.  H.,  Genetic  Psychology  of  Teachers,  chaps.  I,  VI,  VIII. 

t  Swift,  Edgar  J.,  Learning  and  Doing,  chaps.  IV,  V,  VI  on  "Progress 
in  Learning,"  "Economy  in  Learning,"  "Habit  in  Achievement."  In- 
teresting problems  of  learning  are  discussed  in  these  chapters. 


114  DIRECTING  STUDY 

are  employed  to  assist  the  pupil  toward  such  mastery 
as  seems  compatible  with  the  welfare  of  the  class  group 
as  a  whole.  Much  time  is  given  to  the  reports  of  pupils 
upon  their  preparation. 

Let  us  examine  the  conditions  under  which  an  enor- 
mous amount  of  this  undirected  preparation  of  lessons 
is  carried  on.  If  the  task  is  one  of  memorization,  the 
victim  has  no  way  of  escape.  Nobody  can  do  that  for 
him.  It  would  be  difficult  to  measure  the  amount  of 
independent  study  indulged  in  by  the  average  pupil. 
His  parents  assist;  his  friends  do  not  escape;  fellow 
classmates  come  to  his  rescue  in  many  a  dilemma. 
The  extent  of  first  aid  ranges  all  the  way  from  a 
mother's  indulgence  in  writing  the  theme  for  her  son 
to  giving  a  mere  suggestion  in  the  solution  of  a  difficult 
exercise  in  geometry.  The  memorizing  school  had  one 
(doubtful)  advantage:  the  student  could  not  resort 
to  vicarious  learning.  When  the  school  is  engaged  in 
testing  the  boy's  preparation  of  the  lesson,  it  would 
be  well  to  be  mindful  of  the  fact  that  other  persons 
besides  the  boy  are  being  tested.  Many  a  fond  parent 
fails  in  the  lesson-hearing  school;  some  succeed  ad- 
mirably. 

Injudicious  helping  of  pupils  should  be  obviated. 
The  mirror  mind  faUs  to  detect  the  essentially  new 
organizing  principle  or  idea  of  the  course  of  instruc- 
tion. The  habit  of  assimilating  dabs  of  information 
for  the  particular  ends  of  recitation  and  examination 
is  disastrous  to  real  scholarship,  understanding,  and 
independent  thinking.  The  veneer  washes  off  upon 
the  first  exposure  to  the  elements.  Undirected  as- 
sistance or  inexpert  guidance  (and  this  may  easily 
happen  in  so-called   supervised   study)    develops  the 


THE  LEARNING  PROCESS  115 

mirror-minded  pupil.  An  astonishing  capacity  for  the 
sheer  absorption  of  subject-matter  may  be  developed. 
Many  a  pupil  has  memorized  by  brute  Chinese  force 
enough  geometry  to  pass  the  course.  There  are  those 
who  pursue  the  subject  with  no  confident  hope  of  ever 
overtaking  it.  If  the  relatively  few  significant  ideas 
of  elementary  and  secondary  mathematics,  for  ex- 
ample, were  actually  mastered,  much  of  the  confusion 
of  youngsters  would  vanish.  The  system  of  undirected 
preparation  and  recitation,  under  the  instructional 
ideal  and  a  haphazard  application  of  the  social  prin- 
ciple, shifts  the  emphasis  from  mastery  of  fundamental 
principles  to  the  temporary  mastery  of  "lessons." 
Information,  the  facts  and  materials  of  instruction  are 
fitted  into  patterns  for  immediate  consumption.  When 
the  patterns  are  lost  or  misplaced  the  pupil  is  left 
stranded.  Memorizing  what  is  said  or  taught  about 
a  new  principle  may  be  done  without  understanding 
or  thinking.  Here  lies  the  danger  of  excessive  telling. 
What  is  needed  is  skilful  guidance  in  the  learning  proc- 
ess. Somebody  ought  to  be  the  expert:  he  should 
know  when  to  give  and  when  to  refuse  assistance.  In- 
discriminate telling  blurs  the  whole  situation.  To 
supply  a  brute  fact  which  will  enable  a  pupil  to  go  fur- 
ther in  his  thinking  is  precisely  the  opposite  of  what 
we  mean  by  indiscriminate  telling.  So  long  as  ability 
to  reproduce  information  is  the  essential  test  of  prep- 
aration, habits  of  study  will  remain  unorganized  and 
haphazard.  Often  the  effects  of  good  teaching  are 
nullified  by  misdirected  assistance.  Piece-work  done 
with  a  blind  devotion  to  set  lessons  rarely  leads  to  a  clari- 
fication of  principles  in  any  subject.  The  disposition 
too  often  is  to  get  the  lesson,  recite  upon  it,  review  it 


116  DIRECTING  STUDY 

for  examination,  and  then  blissfully  dismiss  it  from 
mind.  Lessons  may  be  learned  without  establishing 
relations  or  without  gripping  principles  at  all.  When 
the  brute  facts  disappear  the  fundamental  principles 
slip  away  also. 

The  following  description  of  the  mirror  mind  is  a 
vivid  example  of  the  memorizing  school.  Four  Chinese 
students  in  a  certain  course  in  a  university  were  sus- 
pected of  having  found  some  means  of  communicating 
with  each  other  in  an  examination.  Their  papers  bore 
such  a  high  degree  of  resemblance  that  the  instructor 
was  quite  sure  that  dishonesty  was  practised  in  some 
mysterious  way.  He  could  not  decide  which  paper 
was  the  original  document  or  which  student  was  the 
offender.  The  instructor,  accordingly,  set  these  four 
students  another  examination.  The  results  were  still 
in  doubt.  There  was  again  a  high  degree  of  likeness 
in  the  papers.  There  was  no  chance  for  the  practice 
of  dishonesty  inasmuch  as  the  students  were  carefully 
policed.  Finally  an  explanation  was  found.  These 
students  reproduced  the  text-book  and  the  lectures  so 
nearly  verbatim  that  it  was  diflScult  to  discover  any 
variation  in  their  wording  even.  The  Chinese  system 
of  education  levies  a  heavy  tax  on  mere  memory. 
These  students  were  trained  to  get  the  exact  language 
and  with  a  marvellous  capacity  for  retention  they 
were  able  to  reproduce  lecture  and  text  in  answer  to 
examination  questions.  The  secret  was  out.  Here 
is  an  example  of  the  mirror  mind  at  work  in  its  highest 
expression. 

The  pupil  may  be  a  prodigious  worker  in  the  lesson- 
hearing  school  and  yet  fail  to  develop  individual  initia- 
tive and  a  sense  of  adequacy  by  reason  of  the  fact  that 


THE  LEARNING  PROCESS  117 

energy  has  been  consumed  in  rote  learning.  The  ca- 
pacity of  the  human  mind  to  resist  the  introduction 
of  knowledge  is  not  nearly  so  remarkable  as  the  capacity 
of  the  human  mind  to  absorb  an  ''education"  for  tem- 
porary purposes.  Too  many  students  have  been 
crammed,  not  taught. 

Who  does  not  recall  the  college  student  who  could 
"sit  in"  five  minutes  before  the  class  hour  with  a  hard- 
working gradgrind  classmate,  get  the  main  points  in 
the  assignment  in  that  brief  time,  and  actually  make 
a  respectable  recitation  with  that  slender  preparation  ? 
Who  has  not  met  the  student  who  refuses  to  allow  his 
studies  to  interfere  with  his  college  life  until  two  weeks 
before  the  final  examination  when  he  buckles  down  to 
it  and  makes  the  grade,  the  gentleman's  mark  at  least? 
Who  has  not  met  the  pupil  who  cleverly  borrows  the 
ideas  (often  the  written  work)  of  a  classmate  and  pre- 
sents his  results  with  much  gusto  and  self-assurance? 
Who  has  not  observed  the  sharing  of  interests  in  a 
group  of  busy  youngsters  just  before  an  examination 
or  test  of  some  character? 

In  all  this  there  are  those  who  may  contend  that  it 
makes  no  difference  how  the  student  gets  his  lesson; 
the  main  thing  is  the  acid  test  of  knowing  it  when  called 
upon  to  recite  it  or  to  write  it  in  the  examination.  To 
be  sure,  everything  depends  upon  the  character  of 
the  testing  and  the  theory  of  education  upheld.  If 
the  mirror  type  of  mind  is  the  aim  of  education,  re- 
production of  ready-made  information,  facts,  con- 
clusions will  be  dominant.  If  independent  thinking  is 
desired,  procedures  of  different  sort  must  be  worked 
out.  Conventional  standardization  of  thinking  has 
always  hindered  progress.    While  it  is  exceedingly  dif- 


118  DIRECTING   STUDY 

ficult  to  secure  independent  thinking,  the  necessity  of 
it  will  not  be  challenged. 

It  is  both  interesting  and  shocking  to  examine  the 
methods  employed  by  almost  any  group  of  pupils  in 
their  preparation  of  a  lesson.  In  a  class  of  twenty-five 
pupils  in  algebra  ten  problems  were  assigned  for  the 
next  lesson.  Some  twenty  pupils  reported  with  the 
entire  number  solved.  Only  two  pupils  had  done  all 
their  work  without  assistance  of  any  kind.  It  is  hardly 
intellectual  dishonesty  to  receive  help  from  others  in 
such  a  situation.  Perhaps  any  reference  to  the  moral 
issue  is  out  of  place.  Father  had  assisted  son;  mother 
had  the  experience  of  renewing  her  erudition  of  x; 
classmate  was  called  up  by  telephone  to  give  a  specific 
solution  to  the  fifth  problem;  Mary  and  Jeremiah, 
the  star  pupils  in  the  class,  were  exceedingly  popular 
just  before  class  was  called;  the  faithful  devoured 
their  neighbors'  goods.  The  rapidity  with  which  the 
solution  of  a  difficult  problem  travels  from  mind  to 
mind  among  youngsters  in  home  preparation  is  phe- 
nomenal when  prizes  (inverted  punishments)  and 
marks  are  being  awarded.  Not  infrequently  the  same 
thing  happens  in  a  misdirected  socialized  recitation. 
The  results  of  the  work  of  a  capable  pupil  can  spread 
like  wild-fire  right  under  the  eyes  of  the  teacher. 

There  is  a  splendid  social  comradery  exhibited  here 
and  a  very  delightful  illustration,  too,  of  mutuality. 
May  this  not  be  after  all  the  real  social  education  we 
hear  so  much  about  in  these  latter  days?  Of  course 
the  teacher  could  insist  upon  absolute  independence 
of  work.  But  the  real  problem  lies  deeper.  Does  a 
suggestion  to  a  pupil  in  difl&culty  destroy  that  inde- 
pendence insisted  upon?     Where  is  the  line  to  be 


THE  LEARNING  PROCESS  119 

drawn  ?  Is  not  the  social  principle  after  all  the  clutch 
which  throws  the  individual  into  action?  If  the  class- 
room is  organized  under  the  instructional  ideal  with 
an  insistence  upon  regimental  uniformity,  it  would 
appear  that  this  class  in  algebra  is  to  be  commended 
in  its  resourcefulness  in  the  use  of  the  social  principle. 

May  it  not  be,  also,  that  one  of  the  primary  func- 
tions of  the  public  school  is  to  keep  the  home-fires 
burning  educationally,  so  to  speak?  The  good  widow, 
mother  of  seven  and  wage-earner,  should  be  given  a 
hearing  at  this  point.  She  complained  to  the  super- 
intendent, saying  that  after  the  hard  day's  work  and 
after  the  evening  work  at  home  she  was  finding  her 
educational  job  rather  trying.  She  said  it  was  dif- 
ficult to  teach  her  seven  children  all  the  lessons  as- 
signed them  in  school  by  their  teachers,  now  that  some 
of  them  had  reached  the  high  school.  Her  proposition 
to  the  superintendent  was  that  if  it  was  agreeable  to 
him  she  would  be  glad  to  hear  her  kiddies  recite  the 
lessons  if  the  teachers  would  teach  them  in  the  school- 
rooms.   This  shift  of  emphasis  might  work. 

It  would  be  a  distinct  loss  if  the  student  failed  to 
k'eep  the  professor  educated.  On  the  whole,  the  re- 
sponsibility placed  upon  the  home  by  our  school  prac- 
tices is  good  for  the  home.  It  serves  to  keep  alive  an 
interest  in  education.  Parents  find  it  less  of  a  burden 
to  teach  their  children  or  to  assist  them  or  to  com- 
mand them  to  study  their  lessons  at  home  than  to  de- 
vise ways  of  taking  care  of  any  marginal  free  time. 
It  may  be  a  bit  unfair  and  too  severe  criticism  to  in- 
sist that  the  modern  home  has  abrogated  its  author- 
ity. At  all  events,  the  home  is  quite  willing  that  the 
school  should  be  exacting  enough  of  the  pupils  in  re- 


120  DIRECTING  STUDY 

spect  of  home  study  to  keep  them  at  some  kind  of 
work  during  those  hours  of  the  day  when  the  respon- 
sibility of  parents  for  direct  methods  of  educating  their 
children  would  prove  a  real  task.  One  criticism  against 
so-called  supervised  study,  mechanically  conducted, 
is  the  attempt  to  delete  home  study.  The  good  widow 
has  suggested  a  far  wiser  solution.  At  all  events,  our 
conception  of  directing  activity  as  the  major  work  of 
the  teacher  will  in  no  sense  do  away  with  wholesome 
forms  of  home  work  for  pupils.  Parents  will  still  have 
an  opportunity  to  participate  vitally  in  the  educative 
process  within  the  procedure  proposed  under  directing 
study. 

Directing  Pupils  in  Work. — In  sharp  contrast  to  the 
general  practice  of  assigning  a  set  uniform  lesson  for 
out-of-class  preparation  and  subsequent  recitation  upon 
it,  let  us  study  a  few  situations  in  which  pupils  carry 
on  their  work  under  the  immediate  direction  of  the 
teacher. 

A.  (a)  A  class  of  thirty-seven  pupils  in  geometry  (loth 
grade)  began  the  attack  upon  some  twenty-five  original  exer- 
cises running  up  into  a  half-dozen  or  more  rather  difficult  sup- 
plementary exercises.  In  all,  three  days  were  given  to  this  chal- 
lenge. During  the  second  and  third  days  the  procedure  indicated 
below  was  used.  The  class  period  was  seventy  minutes  net. 
Many  pupils  were  on  the  job  twenty  minutes  before  the  class 
period  formally  began. 

The  pupils  were  directed  to  work  as  rapidly  as  possible  and 
to  come  to  the  teacher  for  consultation  when  they  felt  sure  they 
could  go  no  further  in  their  particular  exercises.  Their  work 
out  of  class  was  a  continuation  of  work  begun  in  class.  The 
pupil  reported  with  his  work  (the  case  method),  indicated  his 
method  of  work,  and  jKiinted  out  his  difficulty  if  unable  to  go 
fvu-ther. 

The  teacher  used  a  pad  to  jot  down  just  what  he  said  to  each 


THE  LEARNING  PROCESS  121 

pupil  or  group  of  pupils.  Each  one  was  on  his  mark;  only  such 
groupings  were  formed  as  were  suggested  by  the  teacher  during 
the  procedure  for  these  three  days.  Occasionally  two  or  three 
pupUs  were  directed  to  go  to  the  board  and  discuss  quietly  their 
problem. 

The  amount  of  work,  that  is,  the  number  of  exercises  mas- 
tered ranged  from  one  to  ten  or  more  each  day.  The  circle,  in 
other  words,  was  described;  each  pupU  was  free  within  it;  no 
upper  limit  was  set  for  any  one.  Some  pupUs  spent  the  whole 
class  period  on  some  very  difficult  exercise  (for  them)  at  that 
time. 

These  notes  are  transcribed  from  the  teacher's  pad.  They 
indicate  just  what  he  said  to  pupils  during  the  last  two  days  of 
the  challenge.  The  number  of  the  exercise  was  noted  and  the 
suggestion  or  hint  or  question  is  recorded.  In  parentheses,  now 
and  again,  the  nature  of  the  pupU's  difficulty  is  indicated.  The 
pupil  described  his  dilemma.  The  teacher  observed  the  injunc- 
tion of  not  talking  too  much.  The  pupU  upon  the  suggestion 
went  to  his  seat  or  to  the  board  and  in  aU  these  cases  below 
succeeded  in  demonstrating  his  exercises. 

Ruth.     "Try  to  use  supplementary  angles." 
Margaret.     (A  defective  figure.)    "Draw  your  figure 

with  your  instruments." 
Oscar.     "Talk  to  your  figure."  * 
Tom.     "How  did  you  draw  line  AB?" 
Franklin.     "Can  you   see  an  hypotenuse  in  your 

figure  ?  " 
M.  and  C.     "Work  on  the  size  of  angles  (in  de- 
grees)." 
H.     "Keep  one  finger  on  page  62."    (A   page  of 

summary  directions.) 
/.,  A.,  and  Fr.     (Working  in  a  group.    Heated  de- 
bate.    Fr.  presented  one  solution  of  an  exercise, 
/.  and  A.  another.    /.  and  A.  were  pointing  out 

*  One  pupil  developed  the  habit  of  drawing  a  figure  and  then  talk- 
ing to  it  as  if  it  were  a  kind  of  personified  thing. 


122  DIRECTING   STUDY 

the  error  in  Fr.^s  reasoning.)    "Soft  pedal  it  over 

there."  * 
Halvor.     "Can  you  make  any  use  of  exterior  angle ?  " 
Wm.     ' '  Supplements  ?  " 
A.     "Review  exercise  120  and  try  to  use  it." 

Whole  Class.  (Five  minutes.)  "Here  is  an  alge- 
braic way  of  working  certain  situations  you  will  all  need 
to  employ  now  and  again."    Explanation  and  drill. 

If  (i)  a  equals  c  and  (2)  ft  equals  d  and  if  (3)  a  plus  c 
equals  b  plus  d.  Then  a  plus  a  equals  b  plus  b  (by  sub- 
stituting for  c  its  equal  a,  etc.). 

Then  2c  equals  26. 

Then  a  equals  b. 

Similarly  c  may  be  proved  equal  to  d. 

"Now  apply  the  principles  of  this  solution  to  your 
geometry." 

L.  (Confused  as  to  hypothesis.)  "Read  your  exer- 
cise and  trace  it  in  your  figure  with  your  finger  as 
you  read  it." 

S.     "Apply  axiom  I  to  your  congruent  triangles." 

*  "Responding  to  influences  from  without,  life  is  an  unfolding  process 
from  within.  This  is  the  conception  that  is  now  shaping  our  methods 
of  instruction.  The  old  recognized  as  training  and  discipline  the  so- 
called  voluntary  attention  which  seemed  to  be  mainly  the  ability  to 
stare,  ox-like,  a  disagreeable,  uninteresting,  or  unintelligible  thing  out 
of  countenance.  The  new  believes  in  training  and  discipline  that  come 
from  the  pupil's  effort  to  follow  up  from  premise  to  conclusion  some- 
thing which  mightily  interests  him  because  of  its  worthy  purpose.  The 
new  values  attainment  only  as  it  represents  a  quality  of  mind  that  has 
acted  through  its  own  initiative.  The  old  found  satisfaction  in  a  state 
of  mind  that  was  quietly  receptive;  the  new  sees  hope  in  turbulence  of 
inquiry;  and  all  of  these  are  irreconcilable  differences  in  kind." — (Jack- 
man.) 


THE  LEARNING  PROCESS  123 

Lo.  "Surely,  any  side  of  triangle  may  be  your 
base." 

T.  "Makes  with  the  base  an  angle?  Read  it  and 
trace  it  in  your  figure.    Dwell  on  it." 

O  and  H.  "Use  another  fact  stated  in  your  hy- 
pothesis. Examine  all  the  data  given.  Plan  a 
general  way  of  attacking  it."  * 

U.  "Tut,  tut!  You  used  your  conclusion  in  your 
demonstration."  (Oh,  she  says.  A  very  com- 
mon expletive  in  this  procedure.) 

A.  "Try  to  think  exercise  128  and  131  together." 
(One  is  converse  of  the  other.) 

M.  (Difficulty  in  seeing  related  parts  in  overlap- 
ping figures.)  "Separate  the  triangles.  Draw 
them  out  aside  and  look  at  them." 

M.  "Try  drawing  bisector  of  angle.  Go  back  to 
exercise  119." 

H.  and  O.  "What  did  we  work  out  together  yester- 
day?" (The  algebraic  way  of  getting  quantities 
equal.)     "Apply  it  here." 

H.  "Keep  one  eye  on  page  59.  Something  on  that 
page  for  you.  Select  two  triangles  in  your  figure. 
You  may  draw  construction  lines,  you  know." 

R.  "  Where  is  il/A"  ?  I  don't  see  it.  Be  sure  to  get 
all  of  the  facts  in  your  hypothesis.  Read  it  care- 
fully."    (Oh,  I  see.) 

K.     "What  kind  of  a  triangle  have  you?" 

C  and  F.     "Select  at  once  triangles  which  include 

*  "It  (reasoning)  is  made  easier  (i)  by  systematizing  the  search;  (2) 
by  limiting  the  number  of  classes  amongst  which  the  pupil  must  search 
for  the  right  one;  (3)  by  informing  him  of  classes  which  include  the  right 
one  and  which  he  would  neglect  if  undirected;  and  (4)  by  calling  his 
attention  to  the  consequences  of  membership  in  this  or  that  class." — 
(Thorndike,  Principles  of  Teaching,  p.  163.) 


124  DIRECTING   STUDY 

any  parts  of  your  conclusion."    (I  spent  two  hours 

on  this  one.    I  have  it.)     "Fine." 
/.     "How  many  sides  has  a  triangle?" 
G.     ''Rub  it  out,  line  HF,  and  try  to  use  exterior 

angle." 

E.  ''Why  are  those  lines  parallel?  Go  back  to 
page  62."     (Summary.) 

R.     "All  right  so  far.     Now  show  what  the  nature 

of  angles  a  and  c  is." 
Fr.     "Read  your  angle  there  again  and  point  to  it 

as  you  read  it."     (Oh!) 
J.,  M.,  and  /.     "Try  to  apply  this  principle:  a  equals 

c;  b  equals  d.    Then  a  plus  6  equals  c  plus  </.    Do 

you  see  it  now?"     (Oh,  yes.) 
G.     "Turn  to  page  59.     There  is  something  there 

you  can  use." 

F.  "Go  to  board  and  draw  with  instruments  the 
kind  of  triangle  you  want  here.  Do  it  quite  ac- 
curately." 

R.  "Suppose  you  abandon  trying  to  prove  figures 
congruent.  What  are  your  alternatives  now? 
Correct.     Now  which  one  can  you  use?" 

These  are  typical  hints,  helps,  questions,  direc- 
tions, etc. 

During  the  third  day  in  this  challenge  of  twenty-five  orig- 
inal exercises,  Tom  and  Arnold  completed  the  entire  list  early 
in  the  class  period.  They  then  assisted  the  teacher,  taking  down 
on  a  pad  just  what  they  said  to  a  pupil  at  the  point  of  his  dif- 
ficulty. They  did  it  very  well  indeed  and  said  they  enjoyed 
it  thoroughly. 

Here  are  a  few  of  their  notes  on  what  they  actually 
said: 


THE  LEARNING  PROCESS  125 

H.  "Keep  your  finger  on  page  62.  Try  to  construct 
a  line  parallel  to  CF  and  see  what  happens." 

L.  "Look  up  different  ways  of  finding  when  a  tri- 
angle is  isosceles." 

N.  "What  are  the  ways  of  finding  quantities 
equal?" 

G.  "What  do  you  know  about  the  bisector  of  the 
vertex  angle  of  some  kinds  of  triangles?" 

K.  "What  do  you  know  about  a  perpendicular 
drawn  to  a  line?" 

P.  "How  do  you  construct  a  perpendicular  to  a 
line  ?  "  "  What  is  the  hypothesis  in  any  theorem  ?  " 
"Do  you  know  what  an  isosceles  triaijgle  is?" 

H.  "How  do  you  prove  two  segments  equal?" 
"Why  is  BMN  a  right  angle?"  "Why  is  CM 
parallel  to  ^-B?"  "What  do  you  know  about 
the  bisector  of  an  exterior  angle  of  an  equilateral 
triangle  ?  " 

Bear  in  mind  these  pupils,  Tom  and  Arnold,  were  do- 
ing this  superb  work  in  directing  activity  in  a  real 
challenge.  They  can  teach  all  of  us  a  thing  or 
two.  Note  the  simplicity  of  their  suggestions. 
Potential  Toms  and  Arnolds  may  be  realized  in 
every  class.  These  boys  did  their  assisting  with  a 
quiet  dignity.  Such  work  may  be  made  a  privi- 
lege.* 

*  I.  In  considering  such  qualities  as  self -direction,  initiative,  and 
originality,  attention  is  directed  to  a  positive  and  dynamic  meaning  of 
these  traits,  such  as  Thomdike  so  effectively  describes  in  Teachers^  Col- 
lege Record  17,  p.  405  jf.,  1916.  "The  view  is  to  think  of  independence, 
not  as  unreadiness  to  follow  or  obey  or  believe  in  other  men,  but  as  a 
readiness  and  ability  to  contribute  to  good  causes  something  more  than 
is  suggested  by  others;  to  think  of  initiative,  not  as  an  unreadiness  to 
wait  or  co-operate  or  be  modest,  but  as  a  readiness  and  ability  to  move 
ahead,  'speed  up,'  lead  and  take  promising  risks,  and  as  an  attitude  of 


126  DIRECTING   STUDY 

(b)  The  same  class  in  geometry  as  in  (a)  above. 

The  following  exercise  was  begun  in  class  by  all  the 
pupils  with  the  expectation  that  each  one  would  have 
a  chance  to  do  his  own  thinking.  Habits  of  work  were 
examined  in  so  far  as  it  was  possible  to  do  so.  The 
teacher  sought  to  discover  the  particular  difficulty 
each  pupil  encountered  and  to  check  the  work  as 
rapidly  as  it  was  done.  The  following  notes  upon  each 
pupil  were  gathered  in  about  twenty  minutes.  An 
attempt  is  made  here  to  record  some  points  about  the 
work  of  each  pupil. 

Exercise.     (All  on  your  marks  now !) 

"If  two  opposite  angles  of  a  quadrilateral  are  equal,  and  if  the 
diagonal  joining  the  other  two  angles  bisects  one  of  them,  then  it 
bisects  the  other." 

The  pupils  were  directed  to  begin  this  new  exercise  at  once, 
work  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  come  to  the  teacher  at  the  point 
of  difl&culty.  The  teacher  was  active  in  discovering  what  the 
particxilar  difficulty  was,  and  his  procedure  was  to  make  only  a 
suggestion,  ask  a  question,  give  a  hint. 

I.  William's  first  difficulty  was  in  knowing  what  is  meant 

expecting  to  create  opportunities,  and  do  ten  dollars'  worth  of  work 
for  a  dollar.  Originality  must  not  mean  weakness  in  doing  routine  work 
in  old  ways,  or  any  essential  dislike  of  traditional  knowledge  or  customs 
as  such  or  any  paucity  of  fixed  habits — but  strength  in  doing  work  that 
is  new  or  doing  it  in  new  ways,  an  attitude  of  hoping  to  change  knowl- 
edge or  practice  for  the  better,  an  organization  of  habits  that  causes 
their  progressive  modification.  .  .  .  The  dynamic  opposite  of  original- 
ity is  not  efficiency,  but  stupidity.  The  djoiamic  opposite  of  efficient 
routine  is  not  genius,  but  disorder.  .  .  .  Finally,  will  it  not  clear  the 
whole  argument  somewhat  if,  in  our  own  thinking  about  education,  we 
replace  the  word  'self-reliance'  by  reliance  on  facts;  'self-direction'  by 
rational  direction;  'initiative'  by  readiness  and  ability  to  begin  to  think 
and  experiment;  'independence'  by  readiness  to  carry  thought  or  experi- 
ment on  to  Us  just  conclusions  despite  traditions  and  customs  and  lack  of 
company" 


THE  LEARNING  PROCESS  127 

by  opposite  angles.     He  stumbled  on  the  distinction  between 
successive  and  opposite  angles. 

2.  Margaret  was  on  the  whole  the  best  thinker  in  the  dass. 
She  had  written  four  perfect  "examinations"  in  the  first  eight 
weeks  of  her  geometry,  and  her  daily  work  was  invariably  ex- 
cellent. Her  difficulty  in  this  exercise  was  in  the  antecedent  of 
Ihem.  She  carried  it  back  to  the  first  dependent  clause.  When 
the  teacher  asked  her  to  relate  her  pronoun  to  some  other  pos- 
sible antecedent,  she  found  the  solution  perfectly  easy. 

3.  Frances,  a  very  good  pupil,  read  the  exercise  and  began 
the  demonstration  by  drawing  an  equilateral  triangle.  "Quadri- 
lateral" was  translated  "equilateral."  When  she  discovered 
her  initial  error  she  sailed  on  without  difiiculty.  She  probably 
discovered  her  error  in  trying  to  draw  diagonals  of  an  equilateral 
triangle.  Was  her  difficulty  a  failure  to  read?  Hardly.  She 
caught  lateral  in  quadrilateral  by  the  tail  of  her  eye  and  did 
what  every  one  who  really  reads  does:  she  filled  in  meaning 
out  of  her  head.  Did  she  think?  The  fact  is  she  perhaps  did 
think  too  much. 

4  and  5.  Kenneth  read  the  exercise  four  times  and  remained 
wholly  innocent  of  the  meaning  of  it  all.  When  prodded  to 
draw  a  figure  which  seemed  to  be  suggested  by  these  words  of 
telegraphic  brevity  he  got  under  way.  Jim  had  to  have  four  or 
five  additional  social  starters  before  getting  to  the  point  of  un- 
derstanding what  it  was  a'l  about.  By  that  time  more  than 
half  the  class  had  made  a  complete  demonstration  of  the  exer- 
cise. 

6.  Henry  met  his  Waterloo  on  the  word  diagonal. 

7.  Mary  wrestled  with  the  two  dependent  clauses,  and  as 
soon  as  it  dawned  upon  her  that  each  one  gave  her  the  basis  for 
a  statement  in  her  hypothesis  in  terms  of  her  figure,  the  rest 
of  it  was  very  quickly  done. 

8.  Mamie  read  it  and  represented  it  in  a  figure  as  she  read  it 
and  solved  it  without  hesitation. 

9.  10,  II,  12,  and  13  indicated  experience  similar  to  that  of 
Mamie. 

14.  Oscar,  a  very  cautious  thinker,  grew  a  bit  timid  in  at- 
tacking the  triangles  formed  by  the  diagonal.  He  was  perfectly 
clear  in  his  intellectual  method  at  the  point  of  hesitation.  He 
had  in  mind  two  alternatives.    He  wanted  assurance  in  his  next 


128  DIRECTING  STUDY 

step.  When  told  that  either  alternative  would  bring  him  safely 
to  a  correct  conclusion,  he  became  confident  of  his  ability  to  go 
forward. 

15.  Loraine  made  a  false  application  of  one  of  the  ways  of 
proving  triangles  congruent.  A  hint,  and  she  corrected  her 
error. 

16.  Lorna  slipped  on  the  meaning  of  an  included  angle. 

17.  Tom  had  missed  a  corollary  on  account  of  absence.  He 
was  directed  to  turn  to  it  and  master  it  then  and  there.  He  did 
so  and  made  use  of  it  within  the  first  ten  minutes  of  work  on  the 
exercise. 

18.  Arnold  did  the  work  quite  accurately,  but  he  made  of  it 
a  very  long  proof.  A  suggestion  at  one  point  in  his  proof,  and  he 
at  once  made  a  short-cut  proof. 

19.  Pearl  was  dazed  before  the  array  of  conditions,  apparently 
unable  to  grip  the  thing  at  any  angle.  She  merely  got  started 
in  the  time  allotted  for  this  experiment. 

20.  Mildred,  a  very  dependable  thinker,  was  not  quite  sure 
of  homologous  angles  in  her  figure.  By  "a  stroke  of  the  eye," 
as  it  were,  her  difficulty  cleared  away. 

21.  Helen,  a  rather  silent  partner  in  the  procedure,  responded 
when  asked  how  she  was  getting  on,  that  she  felt  sure  of  her 
method  of  attack. 

22.  Melvin  seems  perfectly  happy  in  bearing  lightly  the  sor- 
rowful burden  of  human  knowledge.  He  is  content  to  be  a  mir- 
ror mind,  carelessly  reflecting  what  he  picks  up  in  haphazard 
work.  As  soon  as  the  solution  of  the  exercise  was  presented,  he 
absorbed  it  and  was  prepared  to  give  it  back  just  as  he  received 
it.  He  manifested  practically  no  initiative,  even  though  he  read 
it  several  times  like  a  good  little  boy  obedient  to  authority. 

And  so  on  for  thirty-seven  pupils  in  this  particular 
class. 

The  striking  fact  about  this  type  of  analysis  of  the 
habits  of  work  of  any  group  of  pupils  is  lack  of  uni- 
formity of  achievement.  No  two  pupils  needed  the  same 
treatment.  It  would  have  been  absurd  to  call  the  at- 
tention  of   the   entire   class   to    the   difficulty   which 


THE  LEARNING  PROCESS  129 

Frances  encountered  in  the  word  quadrilateral.  Why 
fuss  the  other  members  of  the  class  with  the  particular 
difficulty  of  a  single  pupil  ? 

Yet  that  is  precisely  what  is  done  in  the  recitation 
system.  The  attention  of  the  entire  class  is  arrested 
by  some  unique  response  of  the  pupil  called  on  to  recite 
or  to  relate  his  particular  progress  and  difficulty. 
There  is  a  time  for  class  discussion.  Again,  any  ex- 
tended explanation  in  the  situations  just  cited  could 
hardly  be  justified. 

Difficulties  do  not  come  to  any  class  group  by  the  clock. 
Difficulties  are  for  the  most  part  individual.  The  same 
individual  does  not  respond  with  a  high  degree  of  uni- 
formity from  day  to  day.  The  teacher  who  has  de- 
veloped the  experimental  attitude  of  mind  may  find 
some  such  study  of  habits  of  work  as  this  one  a  profit- 
able departure  on  many  occasions  in  directing  activity 
in  teaching.  Such  an  exercise  conducted  in  a  controlled 
environment  enables  the  pupil  to  do  independent  think- 
ing, or  rather,  let  us  say,  rationally  dependent  think- 
ing. May  it  not  be  a  real  beginning  in  creative  or 
scientffic  thinking? 

A  year  after  taking  their  geometry  some  pupils  were 
requested  to  make  a  frank  statement  about  the  gen- 
eral procedure  illustrated  in  this  class.  Two  pupils 
responded  as  follows,  fifteen  and  sixteen  year  old 
pupils.  These  statements  are  decidedly  original  and 
first-hand.  They  express  very  clearly  the  procedure. 
No  apology  is  offered  for  including  them.  Pupils  are 
not  lectured  to  about  any  particular  intellectual 
method. 

"I  like  yoiir  system  of  'challenges'  very  much.  It  gives  the 
student  responsibility  and  a  greater  opp>ortunity  for  initiative. 


130  DIRECTING   STUDY 

Class  work  rather  than  recitation  makes  individual  help  possible ; 
for  instance,  student  A  may  understand  certain  principles  very 
well,  while  student  B  does  not.  Then  the  instructor  has  time 
to  help  B  out  of  his  difficulty  without  holding  A  back.  Perhaps 
next  time,  vice  versa.  By  a  class  recitation  held,  say  once  in 
two  weeks,  the  work  of  the  completed  challenge  can  be  summed 
up,  thus  testing  each  student.  This  system  also  develops  com- 
petition, and  'emulation  among  students  incites  to  industry.'  " 
-(L.  O.) 

"Each  person  has  a  different  method  of  learning  a  subject. 
In  geometry  one  person  may  learn  by  repeated  application, 
another  by  finding  the  reason  behind  each  theorem.  The  teacher 
has  to  follow  the  system  and  thoughts  of  each  individual  in  the 
class.  The  challenges  offer  a  splendid  opportunity.  In  every 
geometr/  class  there  will  be  a  certain  number  of  pupils  who 
learn  by  application.  Part  of  these  will  be  able  to  work  ahead 
by  themselves  when  a  certain  goal  is  given  them.  The  other 
part  will  not  grasp  the  subject  so  easily,  and  the  teacher  can 
give  them  help  individually  or  as  a  group  without  keeping  back 
the  first  group.  The  same  will  apply  to  the  group  which  has 
to  find  the  reason  before  they  can  apply  the  theorem.  In  this 
way  every  person  is  progressing  as  rapidly  as  possible  without 
retarding  another  person.  Then,  when  a  certain  part  of  the 
subject  has  been  studied,  to  have  a  general  discussion  clears  up 
every  point,  and  every  one  is  ready  for  a  new  phase  of  the  work," 
-(R.  N.) 


B.     Class  in  biology,  twenty-six  pupils,  nth  and  12th  grades. 

In  preparation  for  this  experiment  the  class  (juniors  and 
seniors)  had  worked  out  a  set  of  experiments  on  osmosis  and 
digestion  (covering  four  days'  work)  so  that  they  fully  under- 
stood the  following  definitions:  "Osmosis  is  the  interchange  of 
liquids  of  different  density  that  are  separated  by  a  plant  or  an 
animal  membrane  (cell-walls).  In  the  process  of  osmosis  the 
greater  flow  is  always  from  the  less  dense  to  the  more  dense." 

"Digestion  is  a  chemical  change  whereby  soluble  food  sub- 
stances are  made  ready  to  pass  through  cell-walls  or  made  ready 
to  be  used  in  cells." 

The  first  question  was  given,  answered  by  each  on  paper. 


THE  LEARNING  PROCESS  131 

No  class  discussion  followed.    Students  were  then  asked  to  write 
out  thought  processes. 

The  second  question  (more  difi&cvdt  than  the  first)  was  given 
with  the  understanding  that  they  were  to  analyze  their  proc- 
esses. 

As  a  teacher,  it  is  helping  me  greatly  to  realize  how  my  in- 
dividual students  think.  It  wiU  help  me  in  directing  their 
thought  processes  in  the  future. — (Teacher,  L.  W.) 

a  and  c  in  each  case  below  are  the  answers  to  the  questions, 
b  and  d  the  pupils'  analysis  of  their  intellectual  method.  The 
questions  are  not  repeated.  Only  six  typical  reports  are  in- 
cluded; one  record  of  a  college  senior  participating  in  the  class 
is  included.    Answers  are  not  edited. 

I,     (c)  Why  "ivill  dried  raisins  and  prunes  become  filled  when 
you  put  them  into  water? 

They  will  become  fiUed  because  water  will  pass 
through  a  membrane,  and  the  water  seeps  into  the 
cells  through  the  cell-wall. 
(&)  The  first  thought  I  thought  was  whether  the  raisins  and 
prunes  were  cooked  or  not.  They  were  not.  If  they 
weren't  cooked  the  cell-walls  must  still  be  there.  Water 
will  pass  through  a  membrane,  and  cell-walls  are  mem- 
branes; therefore  water  must  pass  into  the  cells,  or,  in 
other  words,  water  passes  into  the  raisins  and  prunes 
and  fills  them  up. 
(c)  In  order  to  cook  meat  to  obtain  rich  soup  or  broth  how  would 
you  prepare  it  ? 

I  would  pound  the  meat  first  and  then  cook  it  so 
that  the  broth  could  escape  from  the  meat, 
id)  I  first  thought  what  makes  broth.  It  must  be  the  sub- 
stance contained  in  the  cells.  These  would  burst  any- 
way in  heating,  but  if  I  broke  the  cells  first  more  of 
the  substance  could  escape  in  the  time  allowed  for  the 
meat  to  cook.  Then  I  thought:  "Why  wouldn't  the 
water  seep  into  the  cells,  as  the  water  is  less  dense  than 
the  substance  contained  in  cells  and  the  flow  is  always 
from  the  less  dense  to  the  more  dense?"  This  could 
not  happen,  because  for  the  process  of  osmosis  a  cell- 
wall  or  membrane  is  necessary,  and  I  had  broken  the 


132  DIRECTING   STUDY 

cell-walls   by    pounding.      Therefore,    my    answer    is 
proved. — (F.  S.) 

II.  (a)  As  the  sap  in  the  cells  is  denser  than  water,  the  water 

enters  in  by  the  process  of  osmosis.    The  skin  acts  as 
a  membrane  through  which  it  passes. 
(6)     I.  By  the  experiments  that  preceded. 

2.  By  the  results  of  one  certain  experiment  which  ex- 

plained it. 

3.  By  a  certain  definition  whose  contents  applied  di- 

rectly to  the  thought, 
(c)  I  think  I  would  let  the  meat  stand  in  water  for  a  little 
while  so  as  to  let  as  much  water  enter  as  possible  (by 
osmosis)  before  boiling.  As  we  know  that  in  osmosis 
the  interchange  is  from  both  sides,  we  would  get  a 
little  of  the  cell-sap  out  before  boiling.  I  think  I  would 
then  boil  in  the  same  water  so  as  not  to  lose  any  of  the 
sap.  Boiling  will  break  up  the  cell-walls  by  expansion 
of  steam,  as  the  water  in  the  cells  would  produce  it. 
When  the  cell-walls  are  broken  the  rest  of  the  sap  would 
come  out.  You  ought  to  have  good  soup,  as  you  would 
have  practically  all  of  the  cell-sap. 
{d)  In  answering  this  question  it  brought  to  my  mind  several 
things  which  have  been  proven  in  class.  The  first 
would  be  the  process  of  osmosis,  by  which  the  water 
would  bring  out  the  cell-sap. 

Second  was  the  effect  of  boiling  on  the  cell-waUs. 

Third  was  what  was  going  to  happen  to  the  sap  if 
they  were  broken. 

Fourth,  as  you  would  have  almost  all  of  the  cell- 
sap,  that  you  ought  to  have  good  soup,  seeing  that  all 
soup  was  is  cell-sap  of  the  meat  which  contained  the 
flavor.— (A.  S.) 

III.  (a)  They  will  become  filled  up,  because  of  the  process 

of  osmosis  which  takes  place.  The  less  dense  water 
goes  through  the  membranes  into  the  denser  syrup  in 
the  fruit. 
(6)  We  are  studying  osmosis;  therefore,  I  immediately  thought 
that  the  question  had  to  do  with  osmosis.  My  mind 
wandered  back  to  the  kitchen  at  home,  and  I  saw  a 
pan  of  raisins  soaking  in  water.    My  mind  exaggerated 


THE  LEARNING  PROCESS  133 

the  action  going  on  in  the  pan,  and  I  saw  the  water 
soaking  into  the  cells  in  the  raisins.  Therefore,  I  con- 
cluded that  for  that  reason  the  question  was  proved 
as  I  answered  it. 

(c)  In  order  to  cook  meat  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  good, 

rich  broth,  how  woidd  you  prepare  it? 

I  would  allow  the  meat  to  remain  in  cold  water  for 
an  hour  or  two  in  order  that  osmosis  might  take  place. 
Then  in  cooking  I  would  not  allow  the  soup  to  boil,  as 
it  would  break  up  the  cells  of  the  meat,  and  it  would 
become  tough. 

(d)  Remembering  the  test  with  potato,  I  figured  that  as  for 

potato,  so  must  osmosis  take  place  in  meat.  Then 
when  the  home  work  on  boiling  potato  was  reported 
on,  they  proved  that  boiling  caused  the  cells  to  be 
broken  up,  and  if  this  happened  the  osmosis  which 
took  place  woidd  have  been  of  no  value. — (P.  B.) 

IV.  (a)  Here  we  have  the  cell-walls — which  are  the  mem- 
brane and  liquids  of  two  different  densities.  The  water 
inside  the  raisins  (cell-sap)  and  the  water  outside.  The 
water  being  less  dense  than  cell-sap — the  larger  flow 
wUl  be  into  the  cells — thus  filling  each  one  out.  Some 
of  the  cell-sap  will  come  out,  because  in  osmosis  there 
is  always  an  interchange,  but  this  wUl  be  negligible 
compared  with  the  inward  flow. 

(jb)  First  of  all  I  collected  facts  learned  in  other  experiments 
which  I  thought  woidd  help  work  out  this  one.  I  then 
modified  these  facts  so  that  they  applied  directly  to 
the  question  at  hand. 

(c)  To  get  broth  we  must  so  cook  meat  that  all  the  juices 
will  come  out.  From  our  osmosis  experiments  we 
know  that  when  liquids  of  two  different  densities  are 
separated  by  a  cell-wall  or  membrane  the  flow  of  the 
less  dense  is  always  the  greater;  in  order  to  attain 
our  end  we  must  prepare  a  solution  in  which  the  meat 
will  be  cooked;  that  is,  denser  than  the  liquid  in  the 
meat.  Thus,  the  juices  in  the  meat  will  flow  out,  while 
there  will  be  little  of  the  flowing  in  of  the  denser  solu- 
tion. 


134  DIRECTING  STUDY 

(d)  (i)  First  of  all  I  got  an  hypothesis;  tliat  is,  something 
from  which  I  could  start  and  to  which  I  could  add  facts. 

(2)  Then  I  went  back  to  the  osmosis  experiments — 
because  of  the  similarity  I  saw  between  these  two  prob- 
lems— I  dwelt  especially  on  the  experiment  in  which 
a  p>otato  was  placed  in  salt  water. 

(3)  I  then  worked  out  the  similar  points  in  these 
two  experiments,  and  so  modified  my  terms  and  ideas 
that  they  fitted  directly  the  experiment  under  dis- 
cussion.— (H.  F.,  a  college  senior  participating  in  the 
class.) 

V.  (a)  The  raisins  and  prunes  contain  or  are  made  up  of 
tiny  cells.  The  moisture  in  these  cells  is  much  more 
dense  than  water.  Water  will  pass  into  the  cells  of 
raisins  or  prunes  on  account  of  it  being  less  dense  than 
liquid  left  in  raisins,  because  osmosis  takes  place  from 
the  less  dense  liquid  to  the  more  dense  liquid.  If  salt 
water  (rather  strong)  were  used  instead  of  pure  water, 
water  would  probably  not  be  absorbed  by  prunes  or 
raisins. 

(b)  Things  I  thought  of  when  I  wrote  the  above  explanation 

(in  order). 

1.  Cells  of  raisins  and  grapes,  when  dry. 

2.  How  cells  may  become  enlarged  by  water. 

3.  Osmosis  through  the  cell-walls. 

4.  Density  of  water  compared  with  liquid  left  in  dried 

raisins. 

5.  How  experiment  would  work  if  a  liquid  with  greater 

density  were  used. 

(c)  The  meat  should  be  cut  up  in  pieces  not  larger  than  a  fist 

or  in  chunks  of  not  more  than  one-half  pound  each. 
Place  it  into  a  kettle  and  pour  on  it  some  cold  water. 
Cold  water  should  be  used  instead  of  hot  water  because 
it  will  pass  into  the  cells  of  the  meat  by  means  of  os- 
mosis, while  hot  water  would  cook  the  cell-walls,  and 
therefore  would  not  permit  the  water  to  enter  the  cells. 
When  water  has  been  placed  on  the  meat  which  is  in 
a  kettle,  place  it  on  a  stove  where  the  fire  is  not  too 
hot,  so  that  boiling  will  not  take  place  too  rapidly. 
Allow  to  cook  gradually  for  about  four  or  five  hours  or 


THE  LEARNING  PROCESS  136 

longer.  The  water  which  was  taken  in  by  osmosis 
will  fill  up  the  cells  to  their  fullest  capacity,  and  when 
boUing  occurs  the  liquid  inside  the  ceU-walls  will  ex- 
pand enough  to  burst  the  cell-walls.  Then  all  the 
liquid  in  the  cell-walls,  the  liquid  that  was  in  the  meat, 
besides  the  water  which  was  absorbed,  wiU  be  released. 
Upon  boiling  gradually  a  few  hours  the  water  will  be 
evaporated,  and  you  wiU  have  left  a  rich  broth.  If  the 
water  disappears  from  the  meat  before  the  meat  is 
quite  soft  and  well  done,  add  more  water,  as  many 
times  as  necessary.  This  can  be  boiled  off  again  by 
heating  properly.  The  meat  which  is  left  will  contain 
less  nourishment  than  it  would  if  boiled  in  a  different 
way,  but  in  this  way  the  soup  is  most  nourishing.  Add 
enough  salt  to  suit  taste  about  half-hour  before  done. 
(d)     I.  Structure  of  meat-cells:  color,  shape,  texture. 

2.  Characteristic  of  soup:  fat  globules  and  taste  of  soup 

when  hot  and  cold. 

3.  Boiling  of  meat,  as  I  have  observed  for  soup  or  for 

meat. 

4.  Frying  of  meat:  that  a  hot  fire  is  necessary  to  make 

a  good  job  of  it. 

5.  How  soup  is  prepared  from  soup  bone  and  tough 

meats. 

6.  How  meat  looks  if  soup  has  been  made  from  it. 

7.  How  soup  looks  after  it  is  finished,  and  how  soup 

should  be  eaten,  hot  or  cold. 

8.  Nourishment  contained  in  various  soups. 

9.  How  meat  left  from  cooking  soups  would  taste. 

10.  Why  sick  people  are  fed  soup  instead  of  meat:  be- 
cause it  is  more  easily  digested — also  more  quickly. 
-(R.  B.) 
VI.     (o)  The  reason  that  dried  prunes  swell  when  placed  in 
water  is  that  osmosis  occurs  in  the  cells.    The  ceU-sap, 
which  is  a  much  denser  liquid  than  the  water,  acts 
through  the  cell-wall  (as  a  membrane),  and  osmose 
reactions  occur.    The  greater  flow,  of  course,  is  to  the 
denser  cell-sap  from  the  v/ater. 
(b)  1  derived  this  answer  from  my  past  experiments  on  os- 
mosis.   I  thought  first  of  the  grape-sugar  experiment, 


136  DIRECTING   STUDY 

then  of  the  one  where  potato  is  the  main  material  (os- 
mosis in  living  cells).  I  thus  derived  the  answer  from 
the  fact  that  osmose  reactions  occur  through  cell-walls. 

(c)  I  think  that  a  richer  (if  not  more  in  quantity)  soup  or 
broth  could  be  made  if  the  meat-cells  were  broken 
down  completely.  In  case  it  was  to  be  boiled  first,  I 
should  think  that  osmosis  would  occur  between  the 
dense  cell-sap  of  the  meat-cells  and  the  less  dense  water. 
But  osmosis  takes  time  and  all  of  the  cell-sap  would 
not  come  out,  and  neither  would  all  the  water  go  in; 
in  fact,  only  a  precious  little  would  go  into  the  cells. 
So  I  conclude  that  if  the  cell-waUs  were  broken  down 
a  richer  soup  may  be  expected. 

(J)  To  derive  this  I  thought  of  the  osmosis  experiment  that 
we  had  performed  and  remembered  that  they  stood 
twenty-four  hours  and  changed  only  a  little.  So  to 
cook  meat  so  that  all  the  rich  cell-sap  and  protoplasm, 
etc.,  would  enter  into  the  broth  the  cell-walls  must  be 
broken  down.  I  also  thought  of  how  soft  and  mushy 
the  potato  is  when  boiled.  That  is  a  case  of  cell  dem- 
olition. 

VII.  (a)  Because  osmosis  takes  place.  The  material  in- 
side these  fruits  is  more  dense  than  the  water.  Os- 
mosis is  the  interchange  of  two  liquids  of  different 
density  through  a  plant  or  animal  membrane.  The 
membrane  in  this  case  is  plant,  and  it  is  composed  of  the 
cell-walls  and  the  fruit-wall.  The  raisins  and  prunes 
are  not  entirely  dry.  There  is  enough  moisture  in  these 
cells  to  insure  the  reaction.  If  these  fruits  were  per- 
fectly dry  no  reaction  could  take  place.  The  "bloom" 
is  taken  off  these  dried  fruits. 

(6)  Analysis  of  Thinking. 

a)  Points  about  composition  of  fruits. 

b)  Study  of  cells  and  functions. 

c)  Principles  of  osmosis. 

d)  Actually  seeing  these  fruits  "fill  out." 

e)  Seeing  no  reason  for  doubting  the  principle  of  os- 

mosis applied  in  this  case. 

f)  Conclusions. 


THE  LEARNING  PROCESS  137 

(c)  We  know  meats  contain  juices.     These  juices  contain 

minerals,  proteins,  and  carbohydrates  in  the  cells  of 
which  it  is  composed.  Of  course  to  obtain  broth  con- 
taining these  foods  they  must  be  extracted  from  the 
meat.  To  do  this  the  meat  must  be  cut  up  in  small 
pieces  to  obtain  more  surface  and  boiled  in  water  con- 
taining salt.  The  salt  solution  will  be  more  dense  than 
the  ceU-sap  and  the  osmosis  will  take  place  and  boiling 
will  burst  the  cell- walls.  The  results  will  be  that  the 
juices  will  be  extracted.  The  boiling  also  makes  it 
possible  for  the  fats  to  assume  a  more  digestible  form. 
This  method  enables  one  to  obtain  all  the  benefits  of 
the  meat  in  a  more  readily  digestible  form. 

(d)  Method  of  Thinking. 

I.  First,  I  recalled  my  knowledge  of  the  composition 
of  meats,  and  related  it  to  the  principles  of 
osmosis.  Then  I  connected  up  some  of  my 
knowledge  in  physics  of  pressure.  I  then  re- 
membered some  of  my  chemistry  about  the 
insolubility  of  fats.  These  I  linked  together 
with  osmosis  and  my  study  of  foods  in  biology, 
and  reached  my  conclusion  of  the  preparing  of 
foods. — (C.  S.) 
C  Individual  Help  on  Recognition  of  Complete  Subject  and 
Predicate  in  a  yth-Grade  Class. 

Ten  sentences  were  worked  out  in  this  class.  Each  pupil 
marked  complete  subject  and  predicate  on  his  own  paper,  work- 
ing individually,  and  came  to  the  teacher,  or  to  the  class  helpers, 
when  assistance  was  needed.  The  numbers  refer  to  the  sentences 
with  which  the  pupils  had  difficulty.  In  most  cases  the  pupils 
made  no  answer,  but  simply  went  back  to  their  seats  and  cor- 
rected their  mistakes.  Before  the  end  of  the  hour  all  had 
marked  all  the  sentences  without  error,  and  had  their  papers 
O.  K.'d  by  the  teacher. 

(Thus  far  we  have  been  recognizing  the  simple  subject  and  verb.  The 
complete  svbject  usually  contains  words  or  groups  of  words  which  de- 
scribe it  more  fully.  So  the  verb  also  has  its  modifiers.  In  the  sen- 
tence "The  cosey  room  was  littered  with  books  and  papers,"  the  simple 
verb  is  was  littered.    "With  books  and  papers"  adds  to  the  picture,  tells 


138  DIRECTING   STUDY 

us  more  about  it.    The  verb  with  its  modifiers — as  was  liltercd  with  hooks 
and  papers,  in  this  sentence  is  called  the  predicate  or  complete  predicate.) 

Underline  with  one  line  the  complete  subject,  with  two  lines 
the  complete  predicate,  in  the  following: 

1.  After  the  theatre  we  drove  home. 

2.  Down  he  went  on  all  fours. 

3.  Quick,  as  a  flash  the  blow  fell. 

4.  "Aye,  aye,"  answered  the  sailor. 

5.  A  worse  trip  they  had  never  taken. 

6.  Lost  in  the  wilderness  the  children  wandered  for  hours. 

7.  Not  every  one  could  make  as  good  a  speech  as  that. 

8.  Here  comes  the  teacher ! 

9.  The  principal  had  called  Lucy's  mother  to  a  conference. 
10.  We  had  had  a  delightful  picnic  after  all. 

The  following  responses  indicate  the  character  of  the  pro- 
cedure employed  in  directing  these  pupils  at  work: 
Helen. 
3.  (Pupil's  question.)  Would  you  put  the  with  blow"?     (He 

continues.)    Oh,  yes,  it  tells  which  blow. 
10.  (Pupil's  question.)   Had  had.   What  is  that  supposed  to  be  ? 

6.  What  does  "lost  in  the  wilderness"  modify?     (I  had  to 

ask  this  question  at  least  a  dozen  times.) 

7.  Does  "not"  modify  cotdd  make  or  every  one?     (I  think 

myself  that  this  could  perhaps  be  construed  in  two 

ways.) 
I.  What  does  "after  the  theatre"  modify? 
9.  "Lucy's  mother"  tells  whom  he  called.    (This  pupil  had 

the  subject  right.)     We  call  that  the  ?    Do  you 

know  whether  it  belongs  to  the  subject  or  the  verb? 
9.  Is  "Lucy's  mother"  the  subject?     Does  it  belong  to  the 

subject  ? 

7.  "As  good  a  speech"  tells ?    You  call  that ? 

5.  "A  worse  trip"  tells  ?     Cover  it  up  and  see  what 

you  need  to  know  in  the  sentence;  then  uncover  it  and 

see  whether  that  tells  you  what  to  do. 
3.  Does  "quick  as  a  flash"  tell  about  the  blow?    What  does 

it  tell? 
9.  This  is  wrong.    I  think  you  can  tell  what  is  wrong  with  it. 


THE  LEARNING  PROCESS  139 

Following  is  a  report  of  one  of  four  pupils  who  got  their  papers 
O.  K.'d  early  in  the  hour,  and  who  were  permitted  to  help  other 
pupils  hy  asking  questions,  never  by  teUing.  These  pupils  noted 
down  the  questions  they  asked,  and,  in  some  cases,  the  answers: 

3.  Why  would  "quick  as  a  flash"  modify  blow?  Then  what 
would  it  modify  ? 

2.  What  did  he  do? 

3.  Why  would  "quick  as  a  flash"  be  the  subject?    What  did 

it  do?    What  does  "quick  as  a  flash"  modify? 

5.  What  did  "a  worse  trip"  do? 

6.  What  did  the  children  do?    What  does  "lost  in  the  wilder- 

ness" modify? 

7.  What  is  the  subject?    Why  would  "as  good  a  speech"  be 

the  subject  ?    What  did  every  one  do  ? 

D.  Habits  of  Work  of  Individual  Pupils. — Two  examples  of 
the  methods  of  work  employed  by  pupils  are  included  here. 
The  accounts  are  given  by  the  pupils  themselves.  The  request 
made  of  them  was  to  have  them  study  the  problem  or  exercise 
and  then  to  tell  what  they  actually  did  in  trying  to  learn  the 
thing  in  hand.  (These  accounts  are  not  changed  materially 
from  the  form  in  which  they  were  submitted  by  the  pupils.) 

{a)  Exercise.  "Ex  quibus  L.  Petrosidius  aquilifer, 
cum  magna  muUitudine  hostium  prem^retur,  aquilam 
intra  vallum  proiecit;  ipse  pro  castris  fortissimo  pugnans 
Qcciditur.'' 

I.  "Ex"  is  a  preposition  and  it  means /row.  It  takes  the  ablative 
case.  "Quibus"  is  either  in  the  dative  or  ablative,  but  since  it  follows 
"ex,"  I  guess  that  it  is  object  of  the  preposition.  I  think  that  this  means 
either  from  which  or  from  whom.  "Lucius  Petrosidius"  is  a  proper 
name,  I  know.  "Aquilifer"  probably  comes  from  aquila  and /ero,  mean- 
ing to  carry  tlie  eagle.  Then  I  know  that  each  legion  has  an  eagle,  so  I 
know  that  the  word  means  an  eagle-hearer.  It  is  in  the  nominative,  the 
same  as  Lucius  Petrosidius,  so  I  know  that  it  must  tell  who  Petrosidius 
is.  Because  they  are  both  in  the  same  case,  I  know  that  they  are  the 
subject.  I  know  that  the  sentence  runs  so  far  like  this:  "From  which 
Lucius  Petrosidius,  an  eagle-bearer."  The  next  word  is  "cum."  I  know 
this  is  a  preposition  that  takes  the  ablative  case  and  means  with,  or  it 
can  be  used  with  the  subjunctive  to  mean  when,  although,  or  since. 


140  DIRECTING   STUDY 

"Magna  multitudine"  is  in  the  ablative,  so  I  think  the  phrase  means  with 
a  great  multitude.  "Hostium"  is  the  genitive  case,  so  it  must  mean  of 
the  enemy.  The  verb  at  the  end  of  this  sentence  is  in  the  subjunctive,  so 
I  see  that  I  was  wrong  in  thinking  that  "cum"  went  with  "magna  multi- 
tudine," and  I  see  that  "magna  multitudine"  is  ablative  of  means  and 
"cum"  means  either  since  or  although.  Then  the  sentence  so  far  would 
read  like  this:  "From  which  Lucius  Petrosidius,  an  eagle-bearer,  since 
(or  although)  by  a  great  multitude  of  the  enemy  he  was  hard  pressed." 
''Aquilam"  is  in  the  accusative,  so  I  know  that  it  must  be  the  object 
either  of  a  verb  or  of  some  preposition.  "Intra"  is  a  preposition  mean- 
ing behind  that  takes  the  accusative,  and  as  "vallum"  is  in  the  accusa- 
tive, it  must  be  the  object  of  "intra."  "Proiecit"  is  a  verb  meaning  to 
throw,  and  as  it  is  in  the  third  person  singular,  it  must  mean  that  "Lucius 
Petrosidius  threw."  It  is  past  tense.  "Aquilam"  must  be  its  object, 
so  the  sentence  must  be  translated  like  this:  "The  eagle  behind  the 
wall  he  threw."  "Ipse"  is  in  the  nominative  case,  so  it  must  mean  him- 
self, referring  to  Lucius.  "Pro"  is  a  preposition  that  takes  the  abla- 
tive and  means /or.  "Castris"  is  the  next  word,  in  the  ablative,  so  it 
must  mean /or  the  camp.  "Fortissime"  is  superlative  adverbial  form  of 
brave,  so  something  must  be  done  most  bravely.  "Pugnans"  is  a  parti- 
ciple, I  know  by  the  ns  ending.  In  English  it  is  a  verb  form  ending  in 
-ing,  so  this  is  translated  as  fighting.  It  is  the  same  form  as  "ipse,"  so  it 
must  modify  it.  "Occiditur"  is  the  present  passive,  third  person  sin- 
gular, so  it  must  mean  he  is  killed.  The  last  phrase  then  must  be  trans- 
lated like  this:  "Himself  for  the  camp  most  bravely  fighting,  is  killed." 
Then  I  go  back  and  get  all  the  parts  and  get  a  sentence  like  this:  "  From 
which  Lucius  Petrosidius,  an  eagle-bearer,  although  by  a  great  multi- 
tude he  was  hard  pressed,  the  eagle  behind  the  wall  he  threw,  himself 
for  the  camp  most  bravely  fighting  is  killed."  Then  revising  it,  I  get: 
"  From  which  Lucius  Petrosidius,  an  eagle-bearer,  although  hard  pressed 
by  a  great  multitude,  threw  the  eagle  behind  the  wall.  He  was  killed 
most  bravely  fighting  for  the  camp." — (Dick,  fifteen  years  old.) 

{h)  Experiment  in  Chemistry. 

My  problem  was  to  make  five  grams  of  A1(0H)3.  I  looked  up  Al(OH)s 
in  the  solubility  table,  and  found  that  it  was  insoluble.  From  this 
I  knew  that  it  could  be  prepared  by  precipitation.  The  next  thing  that 
I  had  to  do  was  to  find  two  common  soluble  salts;  one  which  con- 
tained the  needed  Al  ions  and  one  that  had  the  OH  ions.  I  chose 
Al2(S04)3  and  NaOH.  I  also  found  that  Al2(S04)3  contained  eighteen 
parts  H2O,  and  that  NaOH  contained  none.  I  then  wrote  the  equation 
representing  the  reaction  that  would  take  place.  The  equation  was  as 
follows:    Al2(S04)3  •  i8H20+6NaOH-»3NajS04-h2Al(OH)3+i8H20.    I 


THE  LEARNING  PROCESS  141 

found  the  molecular  weights  on  each  side  balanced  each  other,  and  so 
I  knew  that  the  equation  was  correct.  The  weights  on  each  side  of  the 
equation  were  906.  I  next  wrote  and  solved  the  proportions  giving  the 
amounts  of  material  needed  and  the  amount  of  products  formed.  To 
do  this  I  used  the  following  proportion:  the  molecular  weight  of  the 
known  weight  is  to  the  molecular  weight  of  the  unknown  weight  as  the 
known  weight  is  to  x.    {A  page  of  equations  and  proportions  follows.) 

As  a  result  of  these  proportions  I  found  that  I  would  have  to  combine 
21.34  grams  of  Al2(S04)3  with  7.69  grams  NaOH  to  form  5  grams 
A1(0H)3,  13.65  grams  Na2S04  and  10.38  grams  of  H2O.  The  weights 
on  both  sides  of  the  equation  balanced,  and  so  I  knew  that  my  figures 
were  correct. 

After  I  had  completed  my  calculations  I  weighed  out  my  compounds 
as  accurately  as  possible,  and  dissolved  each  of  them  in  separate  beakers 
of  distilled  HjO.  I  used  distilled  H2O  because  I  knew  that  the  tap  water 
contained  impurities.  I  then  poured  the  NaOH  into  the  Al2(S04)3. 
I  did  this  because  this  is  one  of  the  few  cases  where  it  makes  a  difference 
how  you  mix  two  solutions.  A1(0H)3  is  soluble  in  NaOH,  and  if  I  had 
added  the  Al2(S04)3  to  the  NaOH,  the  first  A1(0H)3  formed  would 
have  dissolved  in  the  excess  NaOH  and  the  weights  would  have  come 
out  wrong.  I  then  stirred  the  mixture  of  white  precipitate  and  colorless 
liquid  so  as  to  be  sure  all  the  precipitate  was  formed.  When  I  had  stirred 
it  several  minutes,  I  got  a  filter-paper  and  weighed  it  and  filtered  the 
mixture.  After  I  had  gotten  all  of  the  filtrate  out  of  the  beaker  and 
onto  the  filter-paper,  I  washed  it  several  times  with  distilled  water.  I 
did  this  because  I  knew  that  some  of  the  Na2S04  that  was  formed  would 
adhere  to  the  A1(0H)3,  and  when  it  dried  would  make  the  weight  come 
out  wrong.  I  let  the  precipitate  drain  one  whole  night,  and  then  the 
next  morning  I  wrapped  it  up  and  put  it  in  a  sand-bath  to  dry  on  the 
radiator.  To  illustrate  the  amount  of  water  in  the  precipitate  I  weighed 
it  before  and  after  drying,  and  the  weights  were  (with  filter-paper)  63 
and  7.85  grams  respectively. 

There  are  a  great  many  chemical  principles  illustrated  by  the  reac- 
tion involved  in  this  experiment.  The  first  of  these  was  double  replace- 
ment. Double  replacement  is  when  two  compounds  react  to  form  two 
new  compounds.  This  was  illustrated  by  the  equation  representing  the 
reaction  that  took  place;  Al2(S04)s  *  i8H20-|-6NaOH  =  3Na2S04  + 
2A1(0H)3  +  18H2O.  The  Al  in  the  Al2(S04)3  changed  places  with 
the  Na  in  the  NaOH,  forming  Na2S04  and  A1(0H)3.  The  reaction  also 
set  free  eighteen  parts  water  of  crystallization. 

The  law  of  conservation  of  mass  is  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  the 
weights  of  materials  put  together  (left  side  of  equation)  balanced  the 
weights  of  products  formed  (right  side  of  equation).  21.34  grams 
Al2(S04)3  ■  18H2O  reacted  with  7.69  grams  NaOH  to  form  13.65  grams 


142  DIRECTING   STUDY 

Na2S04,  5  grams  A1(0H)3  and  10.38  grams  H2O.  The  weights  on  each 
side  of  the  equation  totalled  29.03  grams. 

Molecular  weight  means  the  number  of  times  the  molecule  of  any 
substance  is  as  heavy  as  the  H  atom.  For  instance,  the  molecular  weight 
of  AUCSOOs  ■  18H2O  is  666.  (The  molecular  weight  is  obtained  by 
adding  the  atomic  weights.)  The  666  means  that  the  single  molecule 
of  Al2(S04)s  ■  18H2O  is  666  times  as  heavy  as  a  single  atom  of  H. 

Atomic  weight  means  the  number  of  times  the  atom  of  any  element 
is  as  heavy  as  the  H  atom.  In  the  equation  the  atomic  weight  of  Al 
was  27.  That  meant  that  the  atom  of  Al  was  twenty-seven  times  as 
heavy  as  the  H  atom,  taking  the  H  atom  as  one. 

Valence  is  very  well  illustrated  in  this  reaction.  Valence  means  the 
nimiber  of  univalent  ions  necessary  to  combine  with  or  replace  one  atom 
or  ion  of  any  other  substance.  This  was  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  in 
the  formula  Al2(S04)3  the  valence  of  Al  was  three  and  the  valence  of 
SO4  was  two.  Therefore,  we  took  two  Al's  and  three  S04's,  thus  balanc- 
ing them  by  giving  each  a  valence  of  six. 

The  law  of  definite  proportions  is  that  every  compound  has  a  definite 
composition  by  weight.  This  was  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  the  same 
amount  of  Al2(S04)3  always  reacts  with  the  same  amount  of  NaOH  to 
form  the  same  amounts  of  H2O,  A1(0H)3,  and  Na2S04  in  each  case. 

The  ionization  theory  is  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  the  compounds 
break  up  and  form  new  compounds.  From  this  it  is  only  reasonable  to 
assume  that  the  compound  broke  up  into  the  ions  formed  in  the  new 
combinations. 

These  are  the  most  important  of  the  principles  involved  in  this  experi- 
ment. I  learned  from  the  experiment  that  to  do  a  thing  correctly  you 
must  be  accurate,  think  before  you  do  things,  and  observe  carefully, 
— (Douglas,  fifteen  and  a  half  years  old.) 

(Needless  to  say  Dick  and  Douglas  have  learned  to  study.  They 
appear  not  to  be  innocent  of  thinking.) 

Incidentally  these  two  boys,  Dick  and  Douglas, 
have  presented  their  work  in  good  (not  correct)  Eng- 
lish. The  practice  of  writing  ''themes"  in  the  Eng- 
lish classes  with  a  high  degree  of  frequency,  quite  re- 
gardless of  any  vital  or  created  interest  in  the  topics 
assigned,  may  prove  to  be  far  less  productive  than  the 
practice  of  utilizing  materials  in  other  courses  which 
the  pupil  is  pursuing.  These  boys  were  not  made  ex- 
plicitly aware  that  they  were  writing  "themes."    Good 


THE   LEARNING   PROCESS  143 

work,  clear  thinking,  in  any  department  must  be  ex- 
pressed in  good  English.  The  department  of  English 
should  establish  organic  relations  with  every  other 
department  in  the  school  and  draw  into  the  procedure 
such  material  as  is  illustrated  in  these  examples.  The 
use  of  mathematics  in  the  latter  is  equally  suggestive 
of  a  vital  co-operation  in  another  direction. 


CHAPTER   IV 

ORGANIZING  PRINCIPLES  AND  DIFFERENTIALS 

Principles  of  Procedure. — Two  guides  to  procedure 
are  suggested: 

1.  We  need  to  consider  definite  organizing  principles, 
clear-cut  unifying  core-ideas,  co-ordinating  challenges,  in 
order  that  a  common  basis  may  be  established  for  produc- 
tive forms  of  discussion  and  for  economical  ways  of 
carrying  on  the  work  of  a  group  of  individuals. 

2.  Within  the  common  medium,  a  described  circle,  an 
organizing  principle,  or  some  co-ordinating  ideal  we 
should  be  constantly  alert  to  individual  differences,  and 
should  make  deliberate  provision  for  differentials,  with 
several  transmissions  ahead,  in  order  that  no  individual 
in  the  group  shall  be  tempted  to  retire  from  the  game,  or 
he  tempted  to  fall  into  passive  attention,  or  induced  to 
become  a  mere  observer  or  spectator. 

These  two  guides  are  best  conceived  as  interlocking 
suggestions  in  a  procedure  in  which  the  social  prin- 
ciple (Chapter  VI)  is  constantly  employed  as  a  clutch 
to  throw  the  belts  on  the  individual  generators,  and 
also  to  unify  and  to  co-.ordinate  our  ideals. 

Challenge  is  used  to  designate  the  new  indeterminate 
assignment.  It  takes  the  place  of  the  conventional 
daily  assignment  of  "lessons."  The  challenge  may  be 
a  day's  work,  a  part  of  a  day's  work,  or  several  days' 
work.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  principle  of  a  com- 
mon medium  upon  which  collective  teaching  rests  is 

144 


PRINCIPLES  AND   DIFFERENTIALS  145 

provided.  For  the  uniform  lesson  and  minimum  essen- 
tials of  content  organizing  principles  are  substituted. 
It  will  be  observed  further  that  the  claims  of  indi- 
viduality are  met  by  making  continuous  and  delib- 
erate provision  for  differentials  within  the  challenge 
or  organizing  principle.  Some  canyon  is  selected  for 
the  prospecting  party.  The  members  of  the  group  do 
not  disperse  into  scattering  units  in  a  loose  organiza- 
tion to  wander  afield  in  any  direction  at  the  caprice 
of  inexperienced  guides.  But  when  the  canyon  is  se- 
lected, the  members  of  the  group  are  not  required  to 
march  in  lock-step  organization.  They  may  not  al-. 
ways  be  in  sight  of  each  other.  They  are  at  all  times 
within  the  potential  control  of  the  director. 

Procedure  Illustrating  the  Operation  of  Principles 
for  Unity  and  Differentials  for  Variety. — Let  us  study, 
now,  a  number  of  illustrations  to  get  the  feel  and  drift 
from  passivity  in  the  recitation  mode  to  the  spirit  of 
work,  the  zest  of  attention,  the  joy  of  achievement  in 
a  productive  form  of  directed  teaching. 

A  class  in  algebra  has  been  called  to  order.  Twenty- 
eight  vigorous,  "free,"  conversing,  joyous  boys  and 
girls  have  come  to  attention.  The  recitation  begins. 
The  lesson  assigned  the  previous  day  was  ten  exercises 
in  factoring.  Twenty  pupils  are  sent  to  the  board 
with  directions  to  number  alternately  one,  two.  All 
"ones"  write  the  solutions  of  the  exercises  numbered 
odd;  " twos,"  the  exercises  numbered  CTe».  The  pupils 
at  their  seats  take  their  morning  siesta  for  the  time 
being.  In  a  few  moments  pupils  are  seated  and  ex- 
planations are  read  from  the  board.  In  ten  minutes 
the  lesson  is  "said,"  and  the  repetition  and  further 
delineation  of  the  obvious  are  about  to  begin. 


146  DIRECTING  STUDY 

At  this  juncture,  with  thirty-five  minutes  of  the 
class  period  left,  it  was  suggested  by  a  professional 
associate  that  every  pupil  get  on  his  mark,  and  work 
forward  as  rapidly  as  possible.  At  once  the  belts  were 
beginning  to  be  slipped  on  the  generators;  the  game 
was  on.  The  teacher  became  a  director  of  activity,  a 
consulting  expert,  a  guide;  each  pupil  in  a  challenge 
with  a  unifying  principle  (factoring  was  the  organizing 
principle  now)  was  leaping  forward  at  his  own  best 
rate. 

The  pupil  or  pupils  who  encountered  particular 
difl&culty  in  parts  of  the  challenge  grouped  around  the 
teacher  in  the  corner  of  the  room  or  at  the  board,  and 
found  a  way  of  making  the  hurdle;  all  were  alive  and 
moving  freely,  coming  to  the  visiting  associate  and  the 
teacher  to  check  results;  one  pupil  forging  ahead,  al- 
most at  the  end  of  the  challenge,  was  called  (promoted) 
to  assist  in  checking  the  work  in  this  beehive  of  in- 
dustry; at  one  point  the  attention  of  the  whole  group 
was  arrested  by  the  teacher,  who,  by  moving  in  this 
new  intellectual  game,  discovered  the  need  of  referring 
to  a  crucial  point  in  the  organizing  principle;  two 
minutes  of  clear  elucidation  and  every  pupil  was  con- 
tributing to  the  making  of  the  dust  of  industry.  Here 
in  one  part  of  the  room  were  four  pupils  in  a  group 
working  under  the  management  of  James,  who  was 
expounding  some  principle  with  apt  illustration. 

At  the  end  of  this  part  of  the  class  period,  converted 
into  a  real  directing-study  movement,  these  pupils  in 
thirty-five  minutes  had  solved  in  a  forward-moving 
challenge  from  six  to  fifty  exercises :  three  pupils  solved 
less  than  ten  exercises,  four  solved  more  than  forty, 
and  the  other  members  of  the  class  ranged  along  from 


PRINCIPLES  AND   DIFFERENTIALS  147 

ten  to  forty.  This  work  was  adequately  checked  in 
the  class  period.  It  was  necessary  to  introduce  a  new 
set  of  exercises  in  the  general  challenge  to  have  the 
emerging  upper  third  of  this  class  employed. 

The  new  procedure  in  this  illustrative  exercise  was 
based  upon  two  conceptions:  (i)  an  organizing  prin- 
ciple to  think  with — to  carry  the  load,  as  it  were,  and 
(2)  within  this  principle  "doable"  parts  of  the  chal- 
lenge. Factoring  was  that  organizing  principle;  the 
exercises  arrayed  provided  material  for  differentials. 
All  members  of  the  class  employ  (think)  the  organizing 
principle;  each  pupil  works  up  to  his  capacity  within 
the  challenge. 

It  is  not  essential  that  every  pupil  shall  solve  all  the 
possible  parts  of  a  challenge  in  order  that  an  under- 
standing of  the  organizing  principle  shall  be  gripped. 
In  fact,  both  the  organizing  principle  and  the  materials 
of  instruction  are  indeterminate  (not  indefinite).  The 
upper  limit  of  exercises  to  be  factored  has  not  been , 
reached  nor  has  the  principle  of  factoring  been  ex- 
hausted. Even  the  pupil  solving  six  exercises  was  in- 
corporating the  principle,  thinking  it,  living  it,  al- 
though not  as  fully  perhaps  as  the  pupil  at  the  upper 
end  in  this  particular  part  of  the  challenge.  In  other 
words,  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  make  any  state- 
ment of  a  pupil's  comprehension  of  a  fundamental 
principle.  Quantitative  measurement  of  results  throws 
some  light  on  the  problem. 

Is  it  not  perfectly  clear  that  an  assignment  of  ten 
exercises  for  an  outside  preparation  by  all  alike  is  not 
only  stupid  but  actually  immoral  pedagogy  ?  To  hitch 
together  twenty-eight  pupils  in  collective  teaching  in 
any  attempt  to  march  in  lock-step  introduces  a  whole 


148  DIRECTING  STUDY 

progeny  of  pernicious  errors.  The  demonstration  of 
a  new  procedure,  just  illustrated,  points  clearly  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  would  be  a  dishonesty  for  a  con- 
siderable majority  of  this  class  to  be  led  to  accept  an 
irreducible  common  minimum  of  ten  exercises  as  a 
real  lesson,  only  to  come  together  to  hear  the  lesson 
"said."  The  set-lesson  is  hardly  fair  for  one  falling 
conspicuously  below  it  after  making  an  honest  effort 
to  master  it. 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  pupils  at  work  do  not 
turn  off  equal  amounts;  they  do  not  read  with  equal 
understanding,  even  though  their  reading  rates  may  be 
approximately  the  same.  The  indeterminate  factors 
are  there  constantly  making  for  differentiation.  The 
way  out  is  not  to  bring  together  in  class  sections  pupils 
of  equal  ability.  No  two  individuals  are  equal  in  ca- 
pacity. In  every  class  the  pupil  should  be  regarded 
as  the  educative  unit.  If  so,  then  differences,  such  as 
appeared  in  the  class  at  work  in  mathematics,  just 
described,  will  arise.  It  is  only  in  a  mythical  world 
that  the  average  pupil  finds  a  habitat. 

In  the  last  illustration  the  reader  will  note  the  fact 
that  the  assignment  (challenge)  was  begun  in  class 
after  the  first  ten  minutes;  for  thirty-five  minutes  the 
challenge  was  pursued  by  every  member  of  the  class 
with  almost  a  maximum,  not  a  uniform,  efficiency.  At 
all  events,  no  one  was  idle,  passive,  or  indifferent. 
They  all  took  to  it  as  ducks  to  water,  and  it  is  an  in- 
dication of  a  sound  educational  philosophy  if  the  pupils 
take  to  work  and  feel  a  bit  put  out  if  they  are  asked 
to  set  it  aside  and  listen  to  an  explanation. 

Some  of  these  pupils  in  this  demonstration,  those 
in  the  lower  third  in  that  day's  work — not  in  the  lowest 


PRINCIPLES  AND   DIFFERENTIALS  149 

third  by  the  grace  of  God  and  an  act  of  parliament — 
needed  to  be  urged  to  continue  the  challenge  outside 
of  class.  They  did  it.  Others  in  the  class  who  had 
exceeded  the  old  speed-limit  by  doing  two  or  three 
days'  work  in  thirty-five  minutes — work  that  would 
have  made  two  or  three  lessons  in  the  lesson-hearing 
school — they,  too,  continued  their  challenge,  but  in  a 
different  way.  We  shall  grip  this  aspect  of  our  problem 
later  in  shaping  up  the  home-study  situation. 

The  Topic  Method,  an  Emphasis  on  Variety. — The 
claims  of  individuality  have  been  asserted  over  and 
over  again.  The  topic  method  is  an  expression  of  the 
need  of  variety.  No  doubt  much  profitable  work  has 
been  accomplished  by  stimulating  pupils  to  work  out 
individual  projects.  In  fact,  in  the  upper  years  of  the 
high  school  excellent  results  may  be  attained  by  hav- 
ing pupils  work  up  comprehensive  problems,  taking 
the  form  of  an  exhaustive  study  of  topics  (projects)  in 
history,  English,  science,  etc.  In  handling  these  prob- 
lems in  the  class  period  an  opportunity  is  afforded  for 
some  very  productive  forms  of  discussion  and  partici- 
pation. It  requires,  however,  a  high  order  of  leader- 
ship to  avoid  a  perfunctory  reading  of  written  reports, 
and  a  nauseous  inactivity  of  the  members  of  the  class 
merely  paying  attention.  Unrelated  topics  or  problems 
do  not  provide  a  basis  for  the  recognition  of  our  first 
guide,  viz.,  an  organizing  principle.  The  second  guide, 
dijfferentials ,  is  apparently  met. 

The  difficulty  lies  in  the  fact  that  there  are  no  in- 
tegrating, cohesive  bonds  which  knit  together  the  in- 
terests of  the  group.  There  is  likely  to  be  separation 
with  only  an  artificial  and  external  unity.  The  teacher 
who  employs  the  topic  procedure  productively  will  be 


150  DIRECTING  STUDY 

required  to  work  faithfully  into  the  topics  himself  in 
order  that  he  may  enter  into  a  vital  discussion  of  them 
with  the  class  and  the  pupil. 

It  is  possible  to  work  out  the  co-operative  challenge 
or  "project,"  in  which  many  aspects  of  the  common 
principle  are  offered  as  contributory  problerhs.  There 
may  be  as  many  distinct  problems  raised  within  the 
co-operative  challenge  as  there  are  members  of  the 
class;  or  pupils  may  work  at  a  fev/  major  problems  or 
topics  in  group  partnerships. 

All  subjects  of  the  curriculum  offer  abundant  oppor- 
tunities for  this  type  of  analysis  and  procedure.  The 
topics  or  problems  are  related  to  each  other,  and  are 
"bound  up  in  a  common  organizing  principle.  The  in- 
dividual report  is  a  part  of  an  organized  unity.  By 
careful  selection  of  related  and  contributory  topics 
within  a  realization  or  principle,  discussion  may  be 
made  vital  for  every  member  of  the  class. 

The  practice  of  desultory  reading  of  unrelated  themes, 
essays,  topics,  reports,  etc.,  with  both  teacher  and  class, 
save  one  at  a  time,  reduced  to  observers,  may  be  obvi- 
ated by  employing  these  two  major  guides. 

The  Co-operative  Project  and  Dififerentiation. — The 
suggestion  of  a  co-operative  challenge,  in  which  pro- 
vision is  made  for  differentiation  either  for  individuals 
or  for  groups  of  individuals  is  not  new  at  all.  It  has 
been  employed  effectively  in  reviewing  a  subject.  The 
possibilities  of  pursuing  new  work  by  this  procedure 
are  not  as  fully  recognized.  It  would  seem  to  be  a 
fruitful  departure  to  approach  the  study  of  a  new  chal- 
lenge in  this  manner  in  those  courses  in  which  there  is 
a  wealth  of  material  and  many  aspects  of  the  challenge 
to  be  surveyed. 


PRINCIPLES  AND   DIFFERENTIALS  151 

For  example,  a  history  class  (12th  grade)  was  about 
to  pursue  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  The  procedure  hit 
upon  illustrates  the  point  in  question.  A  and  B  were 
selected  to  report  on  the  European  situation  at  the 
time  the  "doctrine"  was  promulgated.  M  and  N 
made  a  study  of  the  work  of  John  Hay  in  China.  O 
and  R  worked  on  the  Venezuelan  problem.  E  and  F 
took  Article  X  of  the  League  of  Nations,  etc.,  etc. 
Each  group  was  made  responsible  for  the  particular 
task  assigned  to  it.  Study  was  not  limited  to  a  single 
phase  of  the  problem.  As  soon  as  any  group  mastered 
its  own  specific  part  of  the  challenge,  another  phase 
of  it  was  taken  up.  Some  pupils  studied  all  aspects 
of  the  problem. 

Each  pupil  was  interested  in  every  one  of  the  re- 
ports, and  was  able  to  enter  into  a  vital  participation 
as  an  intelligent  reading  agent.  Every  individual  in- 
terest in  the  study  was  looped  up  within  the  common 
organizing  principle.  After  this  study  and  discussion 
of  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  it  is  needless  to  say  the  "doc- 
trine" was  not  fully  comprehended;  the  assignment 
was  indeterminate,  yet  very  definite,  in  that  the  ma- 
terial was  not  exhausted.  The  discussion  of  it  was  not 
finished.  The  "principle,"  itself,  had  not  reached  its 
final  form.  The  Monroe  Doctrine  was  not  finished. 
This  illustration  is  intended  to  suggest  a  line  of  de- 
parture;  it  is  by  no  means  exhaustive  or  final. 

Endless  Differentiation. — ^The  reader  may  have  al- 
ready become  weary  of  illustrations  of  the  procedure 
contemplated  in  this  study.  The  only  justification 
ofifered  for  multiplying  examples  is  the  fact  that  no 
single  method  or  type  can  be  laid  down  as  a  final  rule 
of  practice. 


152  DIRECTING   STUDY 

Life  is  fenced  round  with  prohibitions  which  the  young  ex- 
plorer must  not  be  allowed  to  ignore.  But  within  the  circle 
thus  marked  out  there  is  infinite  room  for  his  activity.  Even 
when  the  moral  law  is  positive  and  not  merely  permissive,  obedi- 
ence may  take  forms  endless  and  incalculable;  thus  a  motorist, 
it  has  been  said,  best  shows  his  love  for  his  neighbor  by  keeping 
to  the  right  of  the  road.  It  is  manifest  that  there  is  no  limit 
to  the  number  of  life-patterns  into  which  good  or  blameless  ac- 
tions may  be  woven,  and  that  it  is  impossible  to  formulate  in 
advance  the  concrete  principle  of  excellence  of  any  of  them.* 

All  of  these  illustrations  of  class  periods  conducted 
upon  the  application  of  the  social  principle  are  in- 
tended to  present  situations  in  which  attitudes  of 
teachers  and  pupils  may  be  cultivated  in  the  direction 
of  responsible  self-activity  and  fruitful  participation. 

Responsibilities  of  New  Teacher  as  Director  of  Ac- 
tivity.— Work  shyness  is  a  very  common  malady  in  the 
lesson-hearing  school.  It  is  due,  in  very  large  measure, 
to  a  lesion  of  the  social  sense.  Pupils  are  brought  to- 
gether and  yet  kept  apart  in  the  recitation  system. 
No  matter  to  what  extent  uniformity  is  insisted  upon, 
the  fact  of  individual  differences  is  constantly  mani- 
fested. Codes,  adopted  with  enthusiasm,  are  found 
to  be  in  constant  need  of  reinterpretation.  The  aim 
in  the  following  examples  is  to  stimulate  our  thinking 
along  some  lines  of  possible  release  of  potentialities 
of  both  pupils  and  teachers. 

There  is  no  algebraic  formula  to  be  laid  down  in  a 
cold,  administrative  manner.  By  entering  upon  the 
adventure  with  a  determination  to  take  the  moral 
hazard  at  the  fork  of  the  road,  teaching  becomes  a 
process  in  which  developing  powers  are  progressively 
realized. 

*  Nunn,  T.  Percy,  Education,  Its  Data  and  First  Principles,  p.  6. 


PRINCIPLES  AND   DIFFERENTIALS  153 

Imagination  is  needed.  "For  our  sentiments  and  passions 
furnish  in  great  part  the  premises  with  which  intelligence  works; 
they  are  the  pigments,  so  to  speak,  with  which  we  paint  the 
picture.  And  so  with  the  collective  aspect;  discussion  is  far 
more  than  an  interchange  of  ideas;  it  is  also  an  interaction  of 
feelings  which  are  sometimes  conveyed  by  words  and  sometimes 
by  gestures,  tones,  glances  of  eye,  and  by  all  sorts  of  deeds.  The 
whole  psychic  current  works  itself  up  by  complex  interaction 
and  synthesis.  Intelligence,  in  the  fullest  sense,  is  wisdom,  and 
draws  upon  every  resource  of  the  mind."  * 

Codes  may  be  carried  out  in  a  rigid,  relentless,  im- 
personal, quantitative  manner.  The  new  teacher, 
however,  finds  in  the  social  principle  a  dynamic  in  a 
moving  stream,  and  works  into  new  situations  with 
increasing  inventiveness  and  adaptability.  The  quali- 
ties of  the  referee  and  the  glorified  umpire  are  highly 
desirable.  This  new  director  of  activity  develops  a  fine 
sense  of  tolerance  in  becoming  adept  in  seeing  many 
modes  of  excellence,  and  in  utilizing  a  variety  of  en- 
couragers  to  good  work.  By  elevating  teaching  to  the 
higher  reaches  of  leadership  and  guidance  the  teacher 
is  no  longer  a  "keeper"  of  school  and  a  "hearer"  of 
lessons;  scholarship  is  recreated  in  the  larger  per- 
spective of  the  challenge  or  problem  level  of  teaching. 

The  new  teacher  does  not  prepare  himself  to  meet 
his  class  by  mastery  of  a  "lesson"  and  a  formalized 
technic  by  which  to  conduct  the  "lesson."  All  that  is 
secondary,  perhaps  essential  at  times.f    The  gripping 

*  Cooley,  C.  H.,  Social  Process,  p.  357. 

t  The  following  diary  written  by  a  college  senior  in  the  Wisconsin  high 
school  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin  illustrates  the  procedure  as  it  ap- 
plies to  prospective  teachers  in  their  preparation  through  participation 
(not  practice  teaching) : 

"In  my  pr^aration  for  to-day  I  found  that  I  could  translate  the  sen- 
tences on  the  page  assigned,  give  constructions,  etc.,  vrfth  no  difficulty. 


154  DIRECTING  STUDY 

of  organizing  principles  in  handling  the  materials  of 
instruction  and  preparation  for  stimulating  and  guid- 
ing mental  life  are  essential  for  every  teacher.  There 
is  always  the  new  boy  and  there  is  always  the  fact  that 
the  boy  moves. 

The  reader  may  be  interested  in  further  examples 
which  serve  to  emphasize  the  teacher  as  director  of 
action,  consulting  expert,  referee,  umpire,  encourager, 
stimulating  guide.  No  matter  what  particular  form 
of  action,  or  method  in  the  deeper  sense,  is  focussed 
upon,  the  ideal  of  directing  study  in  this  interpretation 
is  protected  and  illustrated  just  so  long  as  all  mem- 
bers of  the  class  are  at  work;  just  so  long  as  the  human 
generators  are  belted  up  for  productive  work;  just  so 
long  as  no  one  is  compelled  merely  to  pay  attention  or 
to  appear  to  do  so. 

Purpose  of  Illustrative  Exercises. — The  distinctive 
characteristic  of  directing  study  is  the  variety  of  pro- 


What  I  did  was  substantially  as  follows:  I  detected  a  possible  reference 
to  the  gerundive  construction.  I  was  not  sure  that  I  would  need  to  ex- 
plain it,  inasmuch  as  I  had  not  a  predetermined  plan  to  follow  in  detail. 
So  I  went  over  that  pretty  thoroughly  so  that  in  the  event  I  should  be 
called  up>on  or  in  case  I  had  an  opportunity  to  make  use  of  the  gerundive 
I  could  acquit  myself  with  credit.  I  thought  of  some  possible  stories, 
suggested  by  certain  material  in  the  sentence  exercises.  So  I  reinforced 
my  supply  of  stories  and  allusions.  Then  there  was,  it  seemed  to  me, 
a  good  chance  to  work  on  derivative  blanks,  in  case  we  got  along  well 
in  the  class  period.  So  I  arranged  some  extra  background  upon  which 
to  focus  this  particular  work  for  the  day.  Needless  to  say,  I  did  not 
expect  to  use  all  these  points  I  have  mentioned.  Nor  did  I  go  into  de- 
tail with  minute  plans  as  to  how  I  would  proceed  if  called  upon  to  re- 
spond in  any  one  of  the  many  ways  this  opportunity  presents.  I  am 
fully  aware  now  that  I  must  have  at  my  command  a  himdred  times  more 
than  I  can  hope  to  use  in  a  particular  class  period.  One  must  be  forti- 
fied in  many  ways  to  cope  with  pupils  in  a  classroom  where  all  work 
forward  and  where  no  upper  limit  is  set  for  any  one." 


PRINCIPLES  AND   DIFFERENTIALS  155 

cedure.  No  single  model  can  be  described  with  any 
assurance  that  the  essential  movement  in  it  can  be 
imitated.  The  illustrations  of  procedures  are  not  in- 
tended to  serve  as  copies  to  be  duplicated,  but  rather 
as  hints  to  establish  in  our  thinking  about  teaching 
lines  of  departure  and  certain  attitudes  toward  boys 
and  girls  at  work.  It  is  not  to  be  concluded  that  the 
one  and  only  sure  way  to  success  has  been  disclosed, 
nor  that  the  study  or  challenge  has  been  exhausted. 
What  we  are  interested  in  doing  is  to  suggest  possibili- 
ties for  the  release  of  energy  and  the  development  of 
initiative. 

Once  the  journey  is  begun  in  the  direction  of 
prospecting  on  one's  own  account,  new  and  unsus- 
pected powers  are  cultivated  and  realized  (actually 
created)  in  the  adventure.  In  other  words,  that  qual- 
ity of  originality,  so  highly  prized  in  good  teaching, 
grows  by  exercise  in  the  direction  of  successful  ex- 
perimentation; it  is  not  a  quality  possessed  as  a  gift. 
One's  originative  and  inventive  powers  are  developed 
through  exercise  in  situations  requiring  purposeful 
adaptation,  "Model  lessons"  followed  with  a  literal 
and  slavish  devotion  are  deadening. 

The  aim  in  these  illustrations  is  frankly  to  stimulate 
interest  in  similar  adventures.  "Trial  and  success" 
may  be  safely  relied  upon  wherever  there  is  a  keen 
sense  of  responsibility.  Teachers  should  be  encour- 
aged in  applying  the  experimental  method.  If  there 
is  being  developed  increasing  capacity  for  self-direction 
and  self-criticism,  a  foundation  is  laid  for  the  achieve- 
ment of  desirable  objectives  in  the  new  procedure. 

A  Bit  of  Qth-Grade  English. — A  class  in  English 
had  worked  two  days  on  Shakespeare's  "Julius  Caesar." 


156  DIRECTING   STUDY 

During  the  second  day's  work  it  was  suggested  that 
the  teacher  or  some  pupil  might  turn  to  any  part  of 
the  play  and  begin  to  read.  All  the  pupils  had  their 
books  at  hand.  As  soon  as  any  pupil,  or  teacher  if  a 
pupil  read,  found  the  place  he  would  stand  up.  When 
three  or  four  had  found  the  place  they  were  given 
recognition  by  having  the  results  recorded  on  the 
board.  The  names  of  pupils  and  teacher  were  posted 
on  the  board.  Opposite  the  name  of  the  pupil  who 
was  first  to  rise,  4  was  placed,  3  opposite  the  name 
of  the  pupil  who  was  second,  and  2  and  i  opposite 
the  third  and  fourth  respectively.  In  the  course  of 
the  hour — it  proved  to  be  an  interesting  intellectual 
game — every  pupil  in  the  class  had  won  some  rec- 
ognition. The  reader  had  skipped  about,  reading 
altogether  parts  of  twenty  passages.  In  some  in- 
stances the  reading  was  continued  for  several  lines 
before  the  pupils  made  the  connections.  The  total 
score  was  easily  found  and  all  members  of  the  class 
could  see  their  ratings. 

The  surprising  thing  about  this  procedure  was  the 
fact  that  one  boy  in  the  class  made  a  respectable  show- 
ing despite  the  fact  that  in  previous  assignments  of 
memorizing  work  he  had  failed  utterly.  Without  be- 
laboring the  point  is  it  not  evident  that  something  of 
the  spirit  of  the  game  caught  the  imagination  of  these 
9th-grade  boys  and  girls?  A  functional  outlook  upon 
memorizing  might  be  mentioned  in  passing. 

Following  this  particular  day's  work  this  suggestion 
was  made:  "Suppose  we  come  prepared  in  a  day  or 
two  to  give  from  memory  as  many  lines  of '  Julius  Caesar' 
as  we  can,  each  in  his  own  tongue. ^^  Pupils  selected, 
as  they  willed,  such  passages  as  appealed  to  them.    In- 


PRINCIPLES  AND  DIFFERENTIALS  157 

stead  of  the  literary  canon,  the  cafeteria  plan  was  em- 
ployed, i.  e.,  there  was  freedom  of  selection  within  the 
circle  described.  This  is  liberty  armed  with  the  law. 
The  teacher  refused  to  select  the  food  for  the  pupils. 

The  conventional  comment  at  this  juncture  is  that 
pupils  will  not  rise  to  that  sort  of  a  challenge;  that 
they  will  certainly  take  a  moral  holiday  and  return 
next  day  with  all  sorts  of  excuses  for  not  doing  the 
assignment.  In  this  particular  instance,  however,  the 
next  session  of  the  class  revealed  a  different  story. 
Thirty-two  pupils  in  this  class,  and  three  college  seniors 
preparing  to  teach,  made  the  following  score:  the 
pupil  having  the  least  number  of  lines  offered  15; 
the  pupil  having  the  highest  number  of  lines  gave  156; 
and  the  pupil  who  felt  the  sting  of  defeat  was  second 
with  148  lines.  This  fact  of  human  reaction  is  known 
by  all  those  who  appreciate  true  sportsmanship  in  the 
great  adventure  of  love  and  the  joyously  serious  busi- 
ness of  athletics.  The  median  was  between  50  and 
60  lines. 

No  pupil  failed  in  this  challenge;  the  college  seniors 
were  not  far  from  the  median;  the  teacher  himself 
frankly  said  that  he  could  not  render  as  many  lines  as 
the  upper  third  in  the  class  that  day.  Again,  the  scores 
were  written  on  the  board  opposite  the  names  of  the 
pupils.  Printed  lists  of  the  names  of  pupils  will  serve 
to  economize  time  and  energy  in  giving  attention  to 
publicity  of  results. 

It  is  perfectly  obvious  in  this  illustration  that  all 
pupils  could  not  be  called  on  to  give  their  lines  before 
the  whole  class.  Only  three  or  four  pupils  were  se- 
lected for  this  privilege,  among  them  the  boy  who 
had  prepared  fifteen  lines.    A  system  of  partnerships 


158  DIRECTING  STUDY 

was  worked  out.  One  pupil  gave  his  lines  to  another; 
small  groups  were  formed  in  which  some  one  was  se- 
lected to  give  his  lines  to  the  larger  audience. 

Even  the  most  satisfactory  type  of  "lesson"  under 
the  old  procedure,  in  which  the  practice  is  that  of  as- 
signing a  set  lesson  of  thirty  lines  to  be  committed  to 
memory  by  all  alike,  could  not  conceivably  be  regarded 
as  productive  as  the  work  just  described.  Let  it  be 
granted  that  all  would  learn  accurately  the  thirty  lines 
in  the  conventional  practice;  no  provision  is  made  in 
that  school  for  the  release  of  potentialities.  There  is 
no  stimulus  there  for  the  pupils  who  can  and  would 
do  five  times  thirty  lines. 

In  this  class  in  English  it  was  suggested  that  the 
members  of  the  group  decide  who,  all  things  considered, 
did  the  best.  The  astonishing  thing  happened:  Wil- 
liam with  his  fifteen  lines  received  a  significant  vote. 
No  one  believed  William  would  be  able  to  stand  up 
in  front  of  his  peers  and  speak  his  lines,  ''Friends, 
Romans,  Countrymen,"  etc.;  but  he  did.  William 
had  advanced  his  stock  by  giving  the  class  within  a 
fortnight  a  description  of  the  Baldwin  locomotive 
compound.  William  knew  more  about  it  p>erhaps  than 
all  the  class  put  together,  including  the  teacher.  He 
expressed  himself,  to  their  amazement,  in  good,  lucid 
English,  whereas  his  habit  had  been  to  express  himself 
rather  badly.  His  English  fared  better  when  tied  up 
in  a  locomotive  than  it  did  in  the  categories  of  his 
teacher  of  English.  William's  particular  mode  of  ex- 
cellence was  appreciated;  a  recognition  of  alternate 
leaderships  was  beginning  to  be  manifested.  There 
was  something  wholesome  in  this  expression  of  his 
work,  even  though  he  did  not  deserve  such  generous 
recognition  in  presenting  Shakespeare. 


PRINCIPLES   AND   DIFFERENTIALS  159 

PubKcity  of  results  may  be  employed  in  many  stimu- 
lating directions.  Even  the  quantitative  presentation 
of  results  may  be  subjected  to  a  refinement  of  analysis 
beyond  the  stage  of  cold  figures.  For  the  pupil  in  this 
class  who  produced  a  hundred  lines  or  more  to  have 
reported  with  less  than  twenty  lines  would  have  been 
occasion  for  the  frown  of  his  fellow  critics. 

Developing  Interest  in  the  Traditional  Material  of 
the  Curriculum. — The  reader  will  be  impressed,  no 
doubt,  with  the  fact  that  no  elaborate  plea  is  made 
for  going  afield  in  search  of  interesting  material.  The 
stir  of  life  may  be  detected  in  the  curriculum  morgue 
in  the  approach  and  emphasis  presented  in  this  thesis. 
Even  decimal  points,  dubbed  by  Randolph  Churchill 

when  chancellor  of    the    Exchequer,  as  "those 

dots,"  words,  exercises,  the  conjugation  of  amo — all 
sorts  of  materials  of  instruction  may  be  caught  up  in 
the  challenge  in  the  spirit  of  the  game  and,  with  a  com- 
petition that  both  sweetens  life  and  stirs  to  action, 
mastered  with  a  remarkable  economy  and  interest. 

Norman  MacMunn*  tells  us  that  before  a  ''commis- 
sioner for  oaths"  he  would  solemnly  declare  that  his 
boys  at  twelve  to  fifteen  years  of  age  would  not  leave 
their  French  verbs  for  picture-books.f 

A  class  of  8th-grade  "Junior  High  School"  pupils 
worked  up  a  word  contest  in  Latin.  Five  hundred 
words  were  selected  by  pupils  and  teacher  for  the  try- 
out.  When  the  contest  came  at  the  end  of  two  weeks 
the  lowest  score  was  above  300;  there  were  six  scores 
running  from  490  to  500. 

The  real  problem  is  not  centred  in  any  irreducible 
minimum  of  content,  but  clearly  in  procedure  values. 

•  MacMxinn,  Norman.    Educational  Times,  1914,  467 Jf. 

t  Ibid.    A  Path  to  Freedom  in  the  School,  Part  II,  chaps.  I,  II. 


160  DIRECTING   STUDY 

We  of  the  pioneer  days  on  the  frontier  may  over- 
draw the  picture  of  the  old  spelling  school  in  which 
we  scaled  the  polysyllabic  Alpine  peaks,  sure  to  slip 
in  crossing  the  crevasse  between  the  i  and  e  in  those 
treacherous  ie  and  ei  words.  Suffice  it  to  say  that 
there  was  no  fun  in  spelling  the  easy  or  the  most-used 
words.  This  remark  will  be  understood  as  a  plea  in 
behalf  of  a  new  movement  to-day  in  American  Edu- 
cation— a  plea  for  a  real  challenge,  a  big  realization; 
one  that  looks  big,  too,  in  the  eyes  of  the  boys  and 
girls  at  a  time  when  there  is  a  craving  for  a  longer 
tether.  A  spelling  sense  and  a  critical  attitude  toward 
words  may  sound  a  bit  old-fashioned,  yet  one  may  not 
pass  for  a  hopeless  lunatic  in  asserting  that  many 
earnest  strivings  after  efficiency,  systems,  and  methods 
may,  after  all,  miss  the  key  to  a  very  simple  problem. 

An  Experiment  in  Teaching  the  Bible. — We  venture 
to  give  a  brief  account  of  an  experiment  in  Teaching 
the  Bible,*  to  illustrate  a  bit  of  consecutive  procedure. 
For  three  years  this  experiment  was  conducted  in  the 
9th  grade  of  the  Wisconsin  high  school  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Wisconsin.  The  time  devoted  to  it  was 
four  weeks  each  year,  five  hours  a  week.  The  work 
was  a  part  of  the  English  course.  The  main  purpose 
in  referring  to  this  experiment  is  to  suggest  possibilities 
in  handling  subject-matter  and  in  initiating  procedures 
in  the  regular  subjects  of  the  school;  practically  every 
subject  lends  itself  to  some  phases  of  the  procedure 
carried  out  in  this  experiment.  The  indeterminate  as- 
signment is  admirably  presented.    There  are  splendid 

*  For  a  full  account  of  this  experiment,  see  The  English  Journal,  vol. 
VII,  no.  10,  December,  1918:  "Teaching  the  Bible  in  the  Jvmior  High 
School,"  by  Charles  S.  Pendleton. 


PRINCIPLES  AND   DIFFERENTIALS  161 

challenges  in  which  unifying  principles  and  provisions 
for  differentials  are  clearly  set  forth.  Mutual  teach- 
ing, co-operative  learning,  a  modus  vivendi  founded 
upon  vision  and  promising  emancipations,  a  vigorous 
working  group,  are  illustrated. 


(a)  In  a  preliminary  discussion  the  teacher  brought  out  very 
clearly  what  the  Bible  is  about  as  a  whole,  carefully  explained 
the  meaning  of  the  terms  Religion,  Theology,  and  Bible  Stories, 
showing  that  the  last  are  neither  Religion  nor  Theology,  and 
that  nearly  all  literature  refers  to  them,  and  finally  made  it  per- 
fectly clear  to  the  pupils  that  all  forms  of  belief  will  be  respected. 
One  day  was  spent  in  preparation  for  the  journey. 

{h)  The  next  day  280  Tissot  Bible  pictures  fuU  of  remark- 
able detail  in  Oriental  color  were  found  on  the  walls  of  the  class- 
room. Each  picture  bears  a  serial  number  and  a  Bible  reference. 
Each  pupil  took  a  sheet  of  paper  and  spent  the  hour  looking  at 
the  pictures,  writing  the  numbers  of  those  the  stories  of  which 
he  could  not  give.  This  was  individual  work.  The  teacher  was 
the  captain  or  leader  of  the  group.  The  pupil  was  asked  to  re- 
hearse to  himself  the  story  connected  with  every  picture  he  was 
sure  of.    Usually  this  work  continued  two  days. 

(c)  Then  each  pupil  was  requested  to  bring  from  home  his 
own  Bible.  A  shelf  was  cleared  for  the  storage  of  these  Bibles. 
Each  pupil  was  then  set  to  work  to  look  up  in  his  Bible  the  stories 
of  all  pictures  which  were  listed  on  his  pad  as  unknown.  All 
kinds  of  Bibles  and  substitutes  for  Bibles  were  found  in  this 
collection.  The  school  furnished  three  or  four  copies  of  Pro- 
fessor Moulton's  book — The  Modern  Reader's  Bible.  In  this 
part  of  the  experiment  the  teacher  was  a  consulting  expert  and 
a  responsible  executive.  An  excellent  pupil  was  called  to  assist 
those  who  were  in  difficulty.  Usually  three  days  were  given  to 
this  phase  of  the  work.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  pupils 
from  Jewish  homes  knew  all  the  Old  Testament  stories.  No 
difficulty  was  met  in  having  them  study  the  New  Testament 
stories  when  it  was  tactfully  pointed  out  that  subsequent  work 
in  English  would  require  familiarity  with  them,  if  the  excellent 
pupU  was  to  succeed  in  the  game.    One  pupil,  realizing  that  she 


162  DIRECTING  STUDY 

knew  too  little  about  the  Bible,  became  interested  in  Professor 
Moulton's  book  and  read  it  quite  through. 

(d)  The  next  step  was  a  written  test  on  the  pictures,  given 
not  to  secure  a  grade  for  record,  but  to  encourage  the  excellent 
pupils  and  to  stimulate  the  backward;  and  also  to  unify  the 
work  of  the  class.  The  class  was  divided  into  several  groups. 
Numbers  referring  to  pictures  were  written  on  the  board  for 
each  group.  Pupils  spent  the  hour  alternating  between  bulletin- 
board  and  desk.  They  wrote  the  story  of  each  picture  in  the 
test,  each  pupil  relying  strictly  on  his  own  resources.  The 
teacher  graded  the  papers  roughly,  picking  out  excellent  pupils 
for  praise,  others  for  more  stimulus. 

(e)  Then  followed  the  stage  of  telling  Bible  stories,  occupy- 
ing as  many  days  in  oral  work  as  appeared  to  be  interesting  and 
productive.  Frequently  a  pupil  chairman  was  selected  who 
called  on  pupils  and  directed  the  discussion.  The  teacher,  al- 
though in  the  background,  was  always  the  responsible  executive, 
setting  the  general  task,  controlling  the  discussion,  holding  an 
unobtrusive  grip  on  every  stage  of  the  procedure. 

(J)  Usually  two  days  of  story-telling  in  competition  followed. 
Each  pupil  selected  his  own  narrative  and  gave  it  in  his  own 
way  before  the  class.  All  took  notes  on  each  other's  perform- 
ance, and  at  the  end  of  the  competition  votes  were  taken  by 
ballot  to  name  the  pupils  who  had  distinguished  themselves. 

(g)  The  next  step  was  the  citation  of  references  to  the  Bible 
in  literature.  During  the  competition  in  story-telling  the  pupils 
were  looking  for  this  material  out  of  class.  They  were  asked 
to  find  three  or  four  or  more.  Some  would  present  perhaps  a 
dozen,  all  the  way  from  Milton  to  the  Good  Housekeeping  Maga- 
zine. The  references  were  written  by  the  pupils  on  slips  of  paper 
and  handed  in.  The  teacher  read  them,  calling  for  the  under- 
lying Bible  story.  An  amazing  efficiency  was  developed  in  two 
or  three  weeks  in  identifying  even  obscure  references. 

(h)  With  a  day  or  two  of  warning  an  hour  was  profitably 
spent  in  giving  quotations  from  the  Bible.  Practice  was  given 
in  stating  the  context  from  which  the  quotation  was  made. 

(i)  The  experiment  now  turned  to  the  invention  of  fiction 
based  on  Bible  stories.  To  prepare  the  way  for  this  bit  of  pro- 
cedure the  teacher  explained  such  conspicuous  works  as  Ben 
Eur,  The  Other  Wise  Man,  and  Paradise  Lost.    The  pupils  made 


PRINCIPLES  AND   DIFFERENTIALS  163 

up  their  Bible  stories  and  read  them  to  the  class.  Possible  sub- 
jects were  suggested  such  as,  a  Philistine  boy  who  serves  in 
the  army  with  Goliath,  a  slave  girl  of  the  train  of  the  Queen  of 
Sheba  teUs  of  the  visit  to  Solomon's  court.  As  soon  as  a  pupil 
finished  one  tale  he  was  free  to  begin  another;  some  pupils  wrote 
no  less  than  a  half-dozen  stories  each.  A  check  list  was  used 
giving  publicity  to  each  pupil's  accomplishment.  Every  pupil 
did  something;  no  upper  limit  was  placed  on  any  one  by  re- 
quiring a  minimum. 

(;*)  Dramatization  followed  very  naturally.  Pupils  were  in- 
vited to  group  themselves  informaUy  in  twos,  threes,  or  fours  to 
present  Bible  stories  exactly  as  they  were  or  with  modification. 
Two  or  three  days  were  given  to  this  work.  The  Hagar  and 
Ishmael  drama  was  given  with  elaborate  invention.  David 
slew  Goliath  with  much  gusto. 

(k)  The  class,  as  a  rule,  returned  to  the  story-telling  for  a 
few  days. 

Each  year  this  experiment,  occupying  four  weeks* 
time  with  each  class,  proved  a  demonstration  of  the 
thesis  of  this  discussion.  Unsuspected  possibilities  of 
pupils  were  revealed.  Pupils  who  could  hardly  give  a 
half-dozen  Bible  stories  with  passing  accuracy  and 
readiness  at  the  outset  very  frequently  came  through 
with  an  amazing  facility  in  half  or  more  of  the  280 
used  in  this  unit  of  work.  Some  were  able  to  give  more 
than  90  per  cent  of  them. 

In  every  case  there  was  work  for  the  pupil,  no  matter 
what  his  accomplishment  was  at  the  beginning  of  the 
experiment.  Here  every  pupil  was  an  individual,  not 
a  number;  also  there  was  abundant  opportunity  to 
develop  the  co-operative  individual. 

This  experiment  is  valuable  in  our  discussion  for 
what  it  carries  as  suggestion  in  procedures  for  prac- 
tically all  units  of  work  in  all  subjects  of  the  curricu- 
Ivun. 


164  DIRECTING  STUDY 

Culminating  Problems  or  "  Projects "  in  Estab- 
lished Courses. — The  practice  of  topping  out  a  course 
in  science,  history,  or  English  with  a  large  unit  of  work, 
either  on  the  individual  or  co-operative  basis,  is  sug- 
gestive. The  capacity  of  high-school  pupils  to  select 
and  organize  material  in  such  adventures  has  been 
demonstrated  time  and  again.  In  one  direction  elabo- 
rate and  profitable  forms  of  experimental  work  may 
be  conducted;  in  another,  interesting  and  valuable 
accounts  of  constructive  and  mechanical  ability  may 
be  shown;  in  still  another  direction,  excellent  results 
may  be  had  in  presenting  topics  worked  out  of  source 
material  as  well  as  interpretation  of  facts  and  con- 
clusions gained  from  readings  upon  a  given  problem. 

For  example,  in  two  classes  in  chemistry  some  six 
or  eight  weeks  before  the  close  of  a  year's  course  the 
pupils  were  given  a  choice  of  problems,  such  as  pho- 
tography, washing-powders,  inks,  coal-tar,  fertilizers, 
garbage,  cement,  soils,  electrochemistry,  manufacture 
of  paper.     A  hundred  of  such  were  listed. 

The  work  was  conducted  in  a  manner  that  assured 
application  and  intelligent  procedure.  Each  pupil  in 
these  two  classes  of  the  school  in  which  this  type  of 
work  is  being  carried  on  reported  to  the  staff  teacher 
each  week,  indicating  the  progress  made  in  his  topic. 
Two  days  each  week  were  given  over  to  experimental 
work  on  these  various  problems  in  the  laboratory  under 
the  general  direction  of  the  teacher.  The  teacher  be- 
came a  consulting  expert,  a  counsellor,  a  director. 
Each  pupil  in  the  course  pursued  his  chosen  problem 
for  several  weeks  (some  sixty  hours).  The  pupil  found 
it  necessary  to  grip  the  principles  of  chemistry,  and 
to  make  application  of  those  principles  in  the  develop- 
ment of  his  particular  problem  or  "project." 


PRINCIPLES  AND   DIFFERENTIALS  165 

The  results  of  these  individual  studies — in  some  cases 
two  pupils  would  work  up  a  problem  together — were 
exhibited  in  the  school  at  the  close  of  the  year.  The 
exhibit  was  open  to  the  public.  The  pupils  took  pride 
in  explaining  their  work  to  visitors.  Charts  were  used 
to  illustrate  the  results  of  this  study.  All  this  work 
was  rooted  in  the  experimental  and  demonstrational 
procedure;  the  pupil  used  the  laboratory  method  in 
solving  his  problem.  The  literature  was  used  as  a 
means  in  working  up  a  final  report  as  well  as  in  dis- 
covering the  scientific  method  to  be  employed  in  the 
laboratory. 

Much  might  be  written  to  show  the  keen  sense  of 
responsibility  pupils  develop  in  this  work.  They  are 
not  sent  to  a  task  to  work  blindly  on  some  artificial 
lesson.  There  is  a  genuine  earnestness  and  zest  in  it 
from  the  beginning.  The  fact  that  the  pupil  may 
choose  a  problem  which  appeals  to  him  is  a  splendid  in- 
centive.    His  work  is  controlled  by  vitalizing  purposes. 

There  is  unity  in  this  work;  there  is  variety  also. 
The  principles  have  been  developed  in  a  common  co- 
operative procedure.  Principles  of  oxidation  are  the 
same  for  boys  and  girls;  there  is  no  sex  line  in  such 
matters.  Each  individual  must  do  his  own  breathing; 
each  must  make  use  of  the  same  organizing  principle. 

The  conception  of  a  culminating  ''project"  is  vigor- 
ously defended.  It  is  absurd  to  believe  that  education 
can  be  negotiated  in  terms  of  original  inclinations  or 
chance  interests.  After  backgrounds  are  built  up  and 
ways  of  thinking  are  developed  and  some  technics 
are  mastered,  it  is  perfectly  clear  that  individual  ap- 
plications may  be  made.  This  example  in  chemistry 
illustrates  the  point  of  departure.  There  was,  also, 
a  sound  basis  for  shared  activity.     Every  pupil  was 


166  DIRECTING  STUDY 

interested  in  the  progress  and  outcome,  not  alone  of 
his  own  "project,"  but  of  his  neighbors'  work.  All 
were  vitally  interested  in  the  class  discussion  centred 
about  these  problems.  There  were  both  a  unifying 
core  of  interests  and  clear-cut  differentials  in  the  ex- 
periment. 

Physics,  agriculture,  biology,  offer  similar  oppor- 
tunities to  loop  up  enthusiasms,  and  to  assist  boys 
and  girls  in  handling  effectively  and  productively 
realizations  which  make  their  appeal  to  youth.  The 
spirit  of  inquiry  and  the  challenge  of  a  man's  job  are 
made  to  count  in  many  valuable  ways.  The  boy  in- 
terested in  radio  is  able  under  this  type  of  guidance 
to  organize  his  information  and  to  express  himself  in 
a  remarkable  manner. 

It  may  be  the  means  of  creating  an  abiding  interest 
in  science  or  invention  or  in  some  worthy  vocation. 
The  immediate  value  lies  in  the  fact  that  such  an  in- 
terest serves  as  a  dominant  motive  for  the  organization 
of  his  hfe.  It  serves  for  the  time  being  as  a  vocational 
motive.  William  James  speaks  of  one's  different  selves. 
In  a  certain  situation  some  one  self  is  dominant.  Dur- 
ing adolescence  tremendous  motives  for  recombination 
of  selves  are  evident.  Some  dominant  interest  around 
which  all  the  other  interests  cluster  becomes  the  means 
of  building  personality.  That  dominant  motive  which 
serves  to  synthesize  one's  interests  may  be  regarded 
as  a  vocational  motive:  it  is  the  way  the  individual 
builds  himself. 

We  have  in  mind  a  boy  who  was  failing  in  his  high- 
school  English  while  at  the  same  time  he  was  build- 
ing transformers  and  the  Tesla  coil  and  reading  every 
book  and  pamphlet  he  could  find  on  these  lines.  After 
he  had  succeeded  in  constructing  his  apparatus  he 


PRINCIPLES  AND   DIFFERENTIALS  167 

was  able  to  stand  up  before  the  class  in  chemistry  and 
physics  and  elucidate  his  subject  in  good  (not  correct) 
and  interesting  English.  He  could  expound  his  sub- 
ject for  an  hour  or  more  in  connected  English.  He 
did  it  quite  as  effectively  as  a  professor  in  a  university. 
He  frankly  admitted  (a  fifteen-year-old  boy)  that  he 
was  bored  by  poetry  and  the  major  requirements  of 
the  Enghsh  course;  yet  he  had  read  intelligently  some 
2,000  pages  of  technical  matter  on  his  particular  proj- 
ect. The  inference  is  not  to  dismiss  English  or  any- 
thing else  from  this  boy's  prescribed  temptations.  Per- 
haps it  is  well  to  remark,  parenthetically,  that  the 
thing  of  primary  interest  here  is  the  fact  that  this  boy 
did  read  and  concentrate  with  marvellous  effective- 
ness when  his  reading  had  in  it  a  purpose.  When  the 
solution  of  a  problem,  real  to  him,  depended  upon  the 
mastery  of  the  printed  page,  he  read  a  prodigious 
amount  of  it — far  more  than  any  curriculum-makers 
\}rould  dare  prescribe.  It  does  not  mean  that  other 
values  are  to  be  neglected.  Such  examples  serve  to 
emphasize  the  futility  of  making  a  fetich  of  the  reci- 
tation of  daily  set  lessons.  And  yet  it  is  maintained 
in  this  thesis  that  even  the  literary  canon  may  be  nego- 
tiated in  a  problem-solving  procedure,  if  only  the  work 
is  cast  up  in  clear-cut  purposeful  objectives. 

Plan  in  the  New  Procedure. — Plan  in  these  pro- 
cedures just  described  inheres  in  the  processes  of  de- 
velopment. It  is  that  interpretation  of  plan  which 
is  self-originating,  self -directing,  immanent,  constant, 
and  growing.  Teacher  and  pupils  contribute  through 
forms  of  associated  life  the  social  forces  of  control,  direc- 
tion, and  interlocking  management.  It  is  not  an  organi- 
zation cut-and-dried  but  rather  a  developing  impulse 
to  unify  and  co-ordinate  ideals. 


168 


DIRECTING  STUDY 


No  pupil  in  these  experiments  covered  the  ground 
of  set  assignments.  There  were  nucleated  and  per- 
vasive foci  which  served  both  to  co-ordinate  the  work 
of  the  class  and  at  the  same  time  to  offer  abundant 
opportunity  for  individual  challenge.  If  there  was  a 
wide  range  of  individual  differences  at  the  beginning, 
there  was  even  a  more  pronounced  range  of  differences 
in  achievement  at  the  close.  No  one  could  evaluate 
such  work  intelligently  without  becoming  impatient 
with  the  minimum-essential-content  doctrine,  and  the 
lock-step  uniformity  of  the  traditional  system  of  edu- 
cation. 

The  following  tables  are  appended  merely  to  illus- 
trate possible  ways  of  representing  relative  frequencies 
of  achievement  and  traits.  In  Tables  I  to  V  the  thesis 
of  this  chapter  is  illustrated. 


TABLE 

I 

Exercises 

lO 

II 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

Henry 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

2 

2 

2 

I 

I 

2 

2 

Mary 

I 

2 

I 

2 

I 

I 

2 

3 

3 

3 

3 

4 

4 

Bill 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

3 

3 

3 

3 

3 

Susan 

I 

I 

I 

I 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

Exercises   

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 

37 

38 

39 

Henry 

3 

3 

3 

3 

3 

3 

3 

4 

4 

4 

3 

3 

4 

4 

4 

Mary 

4 

4 

Bill.             

3 

3 

4 

4 

4 

4 

4 

4 

Susan 

3 

3 

3 

3 

3 

3 

4 

4 

4 

4 

4 

4 

Etc. 

PRINCIPLES  AND   DIFFERENTIALS  169 

Table  I  represents  a  checking  sheet  to  indicate  the  amount 
of  work  accomplished  by  each  pupil  in  a  challenge  in  geometry, 
continuing  in  this  case  four  days.  The  exercises  are  originals 
selected  from  the  text-book.  The  checking  is  done  by  numbers 
indicating  achievement  for  each  pupil  each  day.  Exercises 
checked  i  represent  what  the  pupil  did  the  first  day,  etc. 
•  Another  way  to  keep  a  record  of  the  work  done  by  each  pupU 
is  to  keep  a  file  of  small  cards  under  each  pupil's  name.  The 
challenges  are  numbered  as  well  as  the  exercises  within  each 
challenge.  Some  symbol  as  H.  W.  is  used  to  indicate  home  work. 
For  work  in  class  period  a  simple  check  mark  is  used. 

TABLE  n 


o  5CX)  looo  1500  2000  2500  3000 

Table  II  represents  the  amounts  of  reading  done  by  a  third- 
year  high-school  class  in  French.  Each  line  represents  the 
achievement  of  a  pupil.  The  base-line  indicates  the  number  of 
pages.  This  challenge  was  continued  through  a  period  of  twenty- 
four  weeks.  The  pupils  were  supplied  with  books  and  stimulated 
to  read  for  enjoyment.  The  reading  was  done  outside  the  class 
period.  The  pupil  who  read  about  3,000  pages  was  doing  ex- 
cellent work  in  four  studies. 


170  DIRECTING  STUDY 

TABLE  III 


25       5°       75       loo       125     ISO 
TABLE  IV 


300      400      500      600 


PRINCIPLES  AND  DIFFERENTIALS  171 

Table  III  represents  the  achievement  of  a  class  of  pupils  in  a 
challenge  of  memorizing  lines  in  one  day  in  their  "  Julius  Caesar," 
9th-grade  English.  The  base-line  indicates  the  number  of  lines. 
From  IS  to  165  lines  were  mastered.  Each  line  represents  the 
work  of  a  pupil. 

Table  IV  represents  achievement  in  a  Latin  vocabulary  test, 
8th  grade,  after  a  period  of  four  weeks.  A  Ust  of  600  words  was 
selected  by  the  teacher  and  pupils.  The  score  ran  from  250  to 
598. 

TABLE  V 


IS  20 


172  DIRECTING   STUDY 

TABLE  VI 


I 

2 

3 

7 
9 

lO 

14 
i6 

20 

15 
6 


Table  V  represents  results  in  a  time  test  (Courtes  test),  8th- 
grade  class  in  arithmetic.  Base-line  indicates  the  number  of 
problems:  the  work  of  each  pupil  is  shown  by  a  horizontal  line. 
One  pupil  solved  two  problems  while  another  solved  seventeen. 

Table  VI  represents  rates  of  reading  (roughly  determined) 
of  113  eleventh-grade  high-school  pupils.  Base-line  indicates 
number  of  words  read  per  second;  the  vertical  column  repre- 
sents the  number  reading  at  the  rates  indicated  by  the  hori- 
zontal line  opposite. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  WORK  SPIRIT 

The  Appeal  in  Real  Challenge. — There  is  a  whole- 
some and  a  natural  ring  in  the  reaction  of  the  farmer 
boy  in  Charles  Dudley  Warner's  A  Boy  on  the  Farm 
when  he  declares  "He  would  gladly  do  all  the  work  if 
somebody  else  would  do  the  chores."  This  sane  and 
healthy  reaction  of  a  real  boy  may  hold  the  key  to  the 
solution  of  our  problem  of  freedom.  There  is  some- 
thing alarmingly  wrong  with  a  vigorous  boy  of  thir- 
teen to  sixteen  who  is  perfectly  contented  in  the  job 
of  pulling  little  weeds,  when  he  might  have  the  manage- 
ment of  fifty  acres  of  the  farm  with  a  challenge  to  work 
it  as  he  wills. 

Interest  a  Function  of  Work. — ^The  healthy  uncor- 
rupted  youth  rises  to  a  real  challenge  of  his  powers. 
A  big  realization  appeals  to  him.  It  is  futile  to  try  to 
justify  a  kind  of  pedagogical  purgatory  in  which  a 
theory  of  "Education  as  Preparation"  is  carried  out 
into  practices  in  the  discipline  of  little  things — little 
facts  to  be  memorized,  a  mass  of  material,  unrelated  to 
a  gripping  problem,  to  be  assimilated.  Then  to  make 
a  bad  situation  no  better,  an  inordinate  amount  of 
energy  is  wasted  in  a  vain  reproduction  of  routine 
matter  by  some  formula  with  no  provision  for  intel- 
ligent guessing  and  creativeness.  So  many  pupils 
pursue  the  multiplication  tables,  geometry,  French, 
botany  in  a  half-hearted  way  with  no  hope  of  over- 
taking them.     Interest  has  been  conceived  as  some 

173 


174  DIRECTING  STUDY 

innate  quality,  or  as  some  artificial,  external  factor 
that  might  by  some  strange  coincidence  account  for 
success.  A  saner  view  would  seem  to  be  that  of  re- 
garding interest  as  a  function  of  work.  The  only  way 
to  be  assured  an  abiding  interest  is  to  create  the  work 
spirit.  The  job  must  be  a  real  challenge;  there  must 
be  something  to  do,  a  real  problem,  a  chance  to  enhance 
self-esteem  by  entering  upon  a  vital  undertaking. 

The  Lesson-Hearing  School. — ^The  teacher  who  al- 
leges that  boys  and  girls  can't  think  is  an  exponent 
of  a  very  definite  type  of  philosophy,  a  mechanical 
absolutism  that  makes  it  impossible  to  introduce  a 
productive  procedure  of  directing  activity.  The  dogma 
of  acceptance  is  defended  against  all  criticism  of  re- 
sults. The  lesson-hearing  school  still  holds  sway; 
teachers  hear  the  lessons  "said,"  unperturbed  by  the 
enormous  waste  of  time  and  energy,  to  make  no  men- 
tion of  the  tragic  outcome  of  the  dreary,  soul-deadening 
process  of  mechanical  education  under  collective  teach- 
ing. 

"The  capacity  of  the  human  mind  to  resist  the  in- 
troduction of  knowledge  can  hardly  be  overestimated." 
True,  perhaps.  Yet  the  boy  in  his  natural  state  has 
a  marvellous  protective  coloration  in  his  ability  to 
resist  just  that  process  of  indoctrination.  The  habit 
of  loyally  co-operating  with  the  teacher  to  put  the 
hour  out  of  its  agony  is  still  a  persistent  practice.  The 
boy  who  whittles  school  furniture  is  demonstrating  a 
prevailing  philosophy  of  education.  There  may  be 
little  else  to  do.  The  lecture  system  does  not  escape 
indictment  in  this  respect. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  imagine  what  goes  on  in  a  class 
conducted  in  the  manner  described  by  Professor  Mead 


THE   DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  WORK  SPIRIT    175 

in  a  discussion  on  "Habits  of  Work,"  based  upon  his 
visiting  i,ooo  teachers  at  work  in  one  of  our  foremost 
States  in  education.    A  typical  example  is  cited: 

T.     Class,  come  to  order ! 

T.    Henry,  you  may  read  the  problem. 

H.  A  piece  of  land  has  a  frontage  of  eighty  rods  on  a  street. 
Into  how  many  lots  with  a  frontage  of  sixty  feet  can  it  be 
divided  ? 

T.     What  wiU  you  have  to  do  first? 

H.     Multiply.     (Henry  drawls  it  out.) 

T.  Multiply  what?  (Stop  yoxir  laughing,  Jim!  Pay  at- 
tention now !) 

H.     Rods  by  feet. 

T.     How  many  feet  in  one  rod,  Henry? 

H.     Five  and  a  half. 

T.  Five  and  a  half !  Why,  Henry !  (Be  in  order  over  there, 
Sally !) 

H.    I  mean  five  and  a  half  yards  equal  one  rod. 

T.    Well,  you  might  do  it  that  way  too.     Now  he  careful. 

(Stage  directions.)     What  is  it  we're  to  do  first,  Henry? 
,H'     Multiply.     {Henry  has  now  arrived  at  the  point  at  which 
he  started.) 

T.  Multiply  what?  Go  ahead.  (Siphoning  the  vacuum  goes 
on  unabated.) 

H.     Rods  by  feet. 

T.     Well,  how  many  feet  make  one  rod,  Henry? 

H.  Sixteen  and  a  half.  (Henry  is  being  trained  in  the  puzzle- 
stage  of  education.) 

T.     Well,  go  on,  that's  right. 

B.     (Referring  to  paper.)     i6j/^  x  80  =  1,320  feet. 

T.  Now  what  must  you  do  with  the  feet?  (Pay  attention, 
class  I) 

H.     Change  them  to  lots. 

T.     And  how  would  you  do  that?    Be  careful!    Now  think! 

H.     Divide  by  sixty. 

T.     That's  right,  go  ahead. 

H.     1,320  -r-  60  =  22. 

T.     Twenty-two  what? 


176  DIRECTING  STUDY 

H.     Twenty-two  lots. 

T.     That's  right;  how  many  understand ?    (They  always  say 

"yes"  to  that.    A  more  or  less  interested  and  unanimous 

assent.*) 

Could  a  more  efficient  system  in  the  training  of 
failures  be  devised?  The  comedian  could  make  real 
fun  for  an  appreciative  audience  out  of  the  perform- 
ances of  Henry  and  his  teacher. 

A  distinguished  mathematician  has  said  that  "a 
few  children  are  born  mentally  deficient,  but  a  number 
are  gradually  made  so  by  the  efforts  made  to  train 
their  growing  faculties."  Any  boy  or  girl  who,  while 
in  school,  is  deprived  of  the  comfort  and  assurance 
derived  from  an  understanding  of  the  lesson  will  rapidly 
build  up  defense  reactions.  Such  a  child  will  soon 
begin  to  resort  to  subterfuge  if  the  constant  strain 
of  having  to  make  good  in  examinations  is  not  relaxed. 
Note  how  easy  it  is  to  cultivate  dishonesty  in  a  pro- 
cedure that  exalts  in  a  blind  faith  the  virtues  of  un- 
digested stores  of  information. 

The  manner  in  which  students  react  to  favorable 
or  unfavorable  environment,  that  is,  the  attitude  dis- 
played in  meeting  new  situations,  is  of  far  more  impor- 
tance as  an  indication  of  the  general  trend  of  activities 
than  an  analysis  of  the  intellectual  processes.  "  Success 
in  education  should  be  measured  by  the  direction  given 
to  the  emotional  currents,  the  growth  of  volitional 
activity,  and  the  awakening  of  a  few  abiding  interests." 

Obvious  Need  of  Redefinition  and  Re-evaluation  of 
Education. — Honest  workmen,  creative  educators,  not 
captious  critics,  are  endeavoring  to  re-evaluate  and  re- 

*  Mead,  Cyrus  D.,  Habits  of  Work,  Ed.  Ad.  and  Sup.,  vol.  VI,  No.  i, 
P-4S- 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  WORK  SPIRIT    177 

define  education.  In  their  eagerness  to  institute  pro- 
cedures that  will  obviate  such  futile  performances  as 
Henry  and  his  school  exhibit  it  would  be  a  marvel  if 
they  did  not  dramatize  inter-dependent  relations  and 
initiative  somewhat  beyond  our  ability  to  realize  in 
the  immediate  future.  The  critic  of  new  departures 
would  do  well  if  he  devoted  his  energy  to  a  defense  of 
traditional  educational  practices. 

Waste  in  Recitation  System. — It  does  not  require  an 
extraordinary  sense  of  humor  to  appreciate  the  omis- 
sions in  the  recitation  just  cited.  Incidentally  one 
may  well  reflect  upon  the  value  of  measuring  the  in- 
crements of  "knowledge,"  or  dabs  of  information,  or 
intellectual  capacity  derived  from  such  a  ridiculous 
system.  Here  are  some  thirty  boys  and  girls,  twelve 
to  fifteen  years  of  age,  dedicated  to  an  education  by 
their  fond  parents.  This  dialogue  or  interview  is 
carried  on  between  Henry  and  his  teacher,  Twenty- 
njne  pupils  are  expected  to  pay  attention  during  the 
farce.  They  must  be  in  order  while  Henry  and  their 
teacher  are  doing  this  wasteful  thing.  If  they  are 
passive  enough,  dead  enough,  no  cases  of  discipline  arise. 

The  lava  of  *'pedaguese"  flows  on  in  a  never-ending 
stream  with  devices  and  "methods"  calculated  to  as- 
sist teachers  in  negotiating  the  lesson-hearing  school. 
"How  many  understand?"  asks  the  teacher  at  the 
end  of  such  light  comedy  as  that  above.  They  always 
say  "Yes"  to  that.  The  job  of  keeping  twenty-nine 
de-magnetized  units  and  Henry  in  perfect  form  is  stag- 
gering in  itself.  It  is  no  easy  trade  to  keep  the  belts 
off  thirty  human  generators.  These  boys  and  girls 
are  placed  in  straight  rows  in  the  mourners'  benches 
and  they  are  not  to  get  out  of  them  without  specific 


178  DIRECTING  STUDY 

permission.  Between  the  lines  admonitions  and  ex- 
hortations are  directed  at  Dick,  Tom,  and  Harry,  who 
find  it  rather  difficult  to  be  in  order  and  give  undivided 
attention  to  the  recitation.  Not  only  is  Henry  bound 
in  his  intellectual  swaddling-clothes  by  a  formalism 
and  a  routine  of  analysis  with  a  jerky,  halting,  minc- 
ing question-and-answer  method,  interpersed  with 
stage  directions,  but  the  other  victims  are  held  in  re- 
straint by  repressive  measures,  dawdling  away  their 
time  and  energy.  The  whole  performance  is  lacking 
in  every  essential  condition  for  creative  thinking. 

The  waste  of  time  and  energy  of  pupils  sitting  pas- 
sively in  our  classrooms  will  never  be  adequately  mea- 
sured. The  little  fellow  in  the  2d  grade,  on  being  asked 
what  he  was  doing  in  school,  aptly  replied  that  he  was 
just  waiting  for  the  rest  of  his  classmates  to  catch  up. 
The  gradual  reduction  of  capable  boys  and  girls  to  the 
monotonous  pattern  of  John  Smith  is  a  process  ad- 
mirably designed  to  encourage  an  immense  amount 
of  intellectual  loafing  in  all  grades  of  our  educational 
system.  The  hope  of  escape  through  classification  of 
ability  is  meagre.  The  real  difficulty  inheres  in  the 
presuppositions  of  regimental  uniformity  and  the  cur- 
rent emphasis  upon  the  consumption  of  ready-made 
"knowledge."  This  unfortunate  situation  is  an  in- 
evitable result  of  the  perpetuation  of  the  lesson-hear- 
ing school.  The  upper  emerging  half  or  third  of  the 
class  spends  an  inordinate  amount  of  time  and  nega- 
tive energy  in  waiting  for  the  rest  of  the  class  to  catch 
up.  Many  a  clever  fellow  cultivates  his  initiative  in 
devising  ways  of  amusing  his  classmates  in  these  mo- 
notonous intervals. 

According  to  Henry  Adams,  nothing  in  education 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  WORK  SPIRIT    179 

is  so  astounding  as  the  amount  of  ignorance  it  accu- 
mulates in  the  form  of  inert  facts.  And  Mr.  Woelhier 
depicts  a  vivid,  if  mournful,  picture  when  he  says: 
*'The  old-time  education  considers  the  mind  a  grave- 
yard, spacious  and  receptive.  Data,  events,  knowledge 
of  all  kinds  are  so  often  dead  matter  ready  for  inter- 
ment; the  lesson  a  burial  rite,  a  tedious  ordeal,  but 
very  necessary  in  respectable  places;  the  teacher,  the 
only  live  entity  in  the  analysis,  a  combination  of  divine 
and  undertaker;  the  examination  a  sort  of  resurrec- 
tion morning  where,  true  to  form,  few  resurrect."  * 

If  the  class  has  been  assigned  a  set  lesson  of  lo  prob- 
lems, 5  pages  of  history,  70  lines  of  Paradise  Lost,  the 
conjugation  of  amo,  and  if  the  lesson  has  really  been 
mastered,  then  there  is  little  to  be  gained  in  the  recita- 
tion of  it.  But  Henry  had  not  solved  the  problem. 
It  is  probable  that  he  answered  the  first  question 
by  vague  guessing.  Much  of  what  he  says  suggests 
the  puzzle  stage  of  education.  He  finally  muddled 
through,  mostly  muddle.  The  process  suggests  si- 
phoning a  vacuum.  Henry's  train-despatcher  seemed 
to  have  been  off  duty;  little  if  anything  got  over  the 
loop;  most  of  his  responses  did  not  agitate  anything 
above  the  medulla  oblongata.  As  for  Mary,  John, 
Susan,  etc.,  who  were  observers,  sitting  on  the  bleachers, 
as  it  were,  they  had  solved  the  problem.  They  might 
have  been  amused;  some  teachers  do  make  the  dia- 
logue rather  entertaining.  They  certainly  could  not 
derive  any  permanent  value  from  listening.  Their 
time  is  usually  wasted,  perhaps  worse  than  wasted, 
in  the  fact  that  the  system  of  passivity  makes  it  im- 

*  A  New  Approach  to  American  History,  a  report  of  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  American  Citizenship  League. 


180  DIRECTING  STUDY 

possible  for  the  teacher  to  stimulate  and  guide  mental 
life  in  a  worth-while  realization. 

Futility  of  Devices  and  Methods. — The  exponents  of 
the  recitation  system  and  the  defenders  (satis  sapienti) 
of  the  status  quo  have  invented  all  sorts  of  devices  and 
methods  designed  to  counteract  any  such  tendencies 
as  indicated  above.  While  operating  on  Henry,  the 
methodologist  says,  you  should  call  on  Tom  to  answer 
a  question;  in  other  words,  make  every  pupil  feel  re- 
sponsible by  a  promiscuous  calling  for  fragmentary 
bits  of  the  recitation.  The  successful  teacher,  they 
say,  uses  good  strategy,  propounds  the  question  before 
designating  the  pupil,  makes  sure  of  returning  to  the 
pupil  who  fails,  with  the  same  question,  calls  on  all 
the  pupils  to  recite  (when  the  supervisor  or  inspector 
happens  round),  etc.  A  clever  teacher  can  produce  a 
spectacular  performance  and  make  it  appear  that 
there  is  much  learning  and  profound  interest.  A  vast 
amount  of  information  can  be  acquired  and  exhibited, 
for  the  time  being  at  least.  The  pupils  may  take  on 
all  the  symptoms  of  life,  and  still,  with  all  the  stir  of 
enthusiasm,  fail  to  incorporate  the  spirit  of  the  sub- 
ject into  their  lives.  Conventional  and  artificial  stand- 
ards can  be  met;  but  they  can  be  met  very  frequently 
without  real  thinking,  without  training  of  initiative, 
without  deliberate  provision  for  creativeness.  An 
education  based  wholly  upon  assimilation  and  repro- 
duction can  hardly  be  defended  any  longer. 

The  Pupil  a  Reacting  Agent,  not  a  Recipient. — 
Parenthetically,  it  may  be  urged  that  the  trend  of  this 
discussion  is  toward  securing  and  establishing  the  work 
spirit  in  the  classroom.  Whatever  contributes  to  the 
development  of  that  ideal  is  accepted  as  an  encourag- 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  WORK  SPIRIT    181 

ing  tendency.  The  ideal  of  directing  study  needs  con- 
stantly to  be  protected  against  the  misprision  of  its 
critics.  With  the  work  spirit  established  it  will  be 
relatively  easy  to  pass  from  the  ideal  of  the  pupil  as 
a  recipient  to  the  pupil  as  a  reacting  agent.  Hence, 
those  who  are  earnestly  striving  to  bring  about  a  more 
active  participation  of  aU  the  members  of  a  class  in 
the  recitation  system  are  assisting  in  the  development 
of  a  procedure  which  may  soon  become  a  sane  and 
productive  departure  under  some  such  ideal  as  the 
laboratory  or  problem  level  of  teaching. 

New  Attitude  toward  Discipline  (Scholarship). — 
Above  all,  what  is  now  demanded  is  the  new  teacher 
who  will  prefer  to  leave  facts  and  events  and  persons 
to  tell  their  own  story,  cunningly  setting  them  in  such 
light  that  the  indicative  of  what  is  and  of  what  has 
been  shall  be  translated  into  the  imperative  of  what 
ought  to  be.  Any  accredited  scholarship  must  be 
recreated  by  the  teacher  in  a  system  of  reacting  partner- 
ships in  which  the  pupils  sit  in  the  game,  so  to  speak, 
and  move  because  their  partner,  the  teacher,  moves  in 
a  real,  human  pedagogical  chess  game. 

The  old  school  which  recognized  as  training  and 
discipline  the  ability  to  stare,  ox-like,  a  disagreeable, 
uninteresting,  unintelligible  thing,  a  task,  out  of  coun- 
tenance is  gone.  The  new  school  believes  in  training 
and  discipline  that  come  from  the  pupil's  effort  to 
follow  up  from  premise  to  conclusion  something  which 
mightily  interests  him  because  of  its  recognized  and 
worthy  purpose.  Formal  and  systematic  and  dog- 
matic education  that  fails  to  arouse  the  student  to 
self-activity,  that  fails  to  challenge  to  a  combat  of 
ideas,  stifles  the  mind.    The  recitation  of  things  learned 


182  DIRECTING  STUDY 

without  new  adaptations  and  applications  kills  mental 
power.  If  thought  merely  copies  an  existing  pattern 
there  is  no  hope  of  its  becoming  free.  There  is  prac- 
tically no  opportunity  for  the  cross-fertilization  of  ideas 
in  the  conventional  recitation  and  lecture  systems  of  in- 
struction. 

"  Plausible  "  Learning  and  Spinal-Cord  "  Educa- 
tion."— The  "squeaks"  of  youngsters  and  "howlers" 
of  students,  their  delightfully  stupid  answers,  furnish 
a  measure  of  recreation,  and  sometimes  suggest  pos- 
sibilities of  originality  and  creativeness. 

Mabel,  with  a  bustle  of  busy  aimlessness,  just  say- 
ing everything  and  everything,  addresses  herself  to  the 
solution  of  the  exercise: 

"If  20  pigs  cost  $100,  what  will  one  pig  cost?" 

Without  thinking  of  prohibitive  prices  she  pro- 
ceeds : 

"If  20  pigs  cost  $100,  one  pig  will  cost  20  X  $100, 
or  $2,000;   for  20  pigs  are  20  times  one  pig." 

With  a  courtesy  Mabel  awaits  the  pedagogical  bene- 
diction. 

Only  in  the  schoolroom  are  pigs  bought  and  sold 
at  such  soaring  prices.  If  Mabel's  teacher  frowns, 
uttering  the  legend,  "Why,  Mabel!  Don't  you  know 
you  must  divide  in  a  problem  like  this?"  Mabel, 
with  equal  facility  and  self-complacency,  arrives  at 
the  "correct"  answer  by  bolting  it  by  the  division 
route. 

The  disquieting  conclusion  is  inescapable:  a  correct 
answer  is  by  no  means  valid  evidence  of  thinking. 
The  college  student  may  be  included.  It  is  perfectly 
possible  to  go  over  a  kind  of  ritual  in  a  course  and 
escape  thinking  entirely.    DonH  think  that  just  because 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  WORK  SPIRIT    183 

a  sttident  answers  correctly  a  question  which  you  have 
asked  him  that  he  knows  the  correct  answer. 

The  classical  example  of  "taking  'em  as  they  come" 
is  credited  to  Doctor  Ramsey,  University  of  Edinburgh. 

Dr.  R.    Bill,  stand  up.    Read  the  Latin.    (Scan  it.) 
BUI.     Exegi  monumentum  aere  perennium. 
Dr.  R.     Now  you  may  translate.* 

BUI.     I  have  eaten  a  monument  more  lasting  than  brass. 
Dr.  R.    Well,  then,  for  Heaven's  sake,  BiU,  sit  down  and  digest 
it. 

There  was  a  rule  in  a  certain  text-book  on  grammar 
which  read  as  follows:  "A  preposition  is  not  a  good 
word  to  end  a  sentence  with."  For  several  winters  in 
the  old  country  school  the  writer  and  his  teachers  made 
faithful  use  of  this  caution  rule  in  correcting  faulty 
usage  of  prepositions.  This,  too,  raises  a  doubt  about 
correct  verbalisms.  The  pupil  may  repeat  with  great 
facility  and  brazen  confidence:  "Quantities  equal  to 
the.  same  quantity  or  equal  quantities  are  equal  to 
each  other,"  ad  infinitum,  and  yet  be  impervious  to 
the  significance  of  what  is  repeated.  One  may  learn 
150  rules  of  diction  and  still  be  unable  to  write  a  series 
of  co-ordinated  sentences  with  any  degree  of  originality 
or  mechanical  correctness,  f 

*  Bill,  by  due  diligence,  had  pursued  his  lexicon  to  the  extent  of  find- 
ing Mo.  He  noted  the  first  of  a  score  or  more  of  meanings  to  be  to  eat. 
A  very  free  translation  of  the  line  is:  "I  have  builded  myself  a  monu- 
ment more  lasting  than  bronze."  Bill,  however,  allowed  the  first  mean- 
ing, to  eat,  to  monopolize  his  attention  without  regard  to  the  meaning 
of  the  line  as  a  whole 

t  Following  is  a  part  of  a  letter  written  by  a  loth-grade  boy.  Not 
a  word  was  said  to  him  in  solicitation  of  such  an  appraisal  of  his  school, 
a  large  city  high  school  in  the  Far  West. 

"I  got  a  F  -|-  on  my  Oral  English  because  I  was  late  with  one  of  my 


184  DIRECTING  STUDY 

Formal  Methods. — Another  type  of  entertainment, 
a  bit  more  hopeful,  is  illustrated  in  a  complex  problem 
of  discipline  (management),  instruction,  supervision, 
and  general  procedure.  The  lesson  was  assigned,  three 
pages  of  definitions  and  illustrations  in  the  text  on 
metre.  With  the  more  or  less  broken  rhythmic  per- 
formance consisting  of  directions  to  stand  up,  recite, 
sit  down,  the  hour  was  drawing  to  a  close,  when  Mike 
was  sent  to  the  office  because  of  improper  conduct. 
The  recitation  had  been  going  on  somewhat  after  this 
fashion: 

T.     Mary,  what  is  an  iambic  verse? 

M.     An  iambic  verse  is  a  verse  that  has  in  it  iambic  feet. 

(Mary  is  a  bright  pupil;  she  reflects,  mirror-like,  the  printed 

page  perfectly.) 
T.     Correct. 

T.     Mike,  what  is  a  trochaic  verse? 
M.     Don't  know. 

speeches  and  she  took  off  a  hundred  per  cent.  I  did  very  poor  in  my 
English.  I  received  a  F  — .  I  don't  get  anything  out  of  the  English 
class  whatever.  The  teacher  will  turn  to  some  unknown  poem  and  have 
a  boy  read  it  (about  20  lines,  part  of  a  poem).  He  reads  it  and  then  she 
will  say,  'You  didn't  read  it  very  well,  did  you?'  And  then  the  boy  is 
asked  to  read  it  again.  He  reads  it  again  and  maybe  a  third  time.  Then 
several  people  in  the  class  will  read  it.  Then  she  starts  to  tell  what  each 
means,  using  a  lot  of  big  words  which  mean  nothing  and  half  the  class 
don't  get  anything  out  of  it.  The  teacher  explains  about  10  lines  of  it 
and  then  the  bell  rings.    So  there  is  one  period  wasted. 

"Then  the  next  day  she  finishes  explaining  the  rest  of  the  20  lines, 
and  does  a  lot  of  talking  and  the  bell  rings  again  and  the  second  day  is 
wasted.  The  next  day  we  are  supposed  to  memorize  4  lines  of  it.  (As 
we  did  in  the  last  poem.)  After  the  day  or  period  is  spent  reciting  the 
poem  by  heart  (the  4  lines),  she  asks  us  to  memorize  the  rest  of  it.  And 
the  fourth  day  is  wasted. 

"After  a  week  of  this  the  class  gets  pretty  tired  of  it,  and  this  same 
thing  has  been  repeated.  We  have  also  written  several  themes  of  500 
to  800  words  for  English.  But  in  spite  of  it  all  I  will  work  hard  during 
the  next  report  period  and  pass  with  a  G  +." 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  WORK   SPIRIT     185 

T.  Well,  why  didn't  you  study  your  lesson?  Sit  down. 
Now  don't  dismiss  it  from  your  mind!  Susan,  you  may 
answer. 

S.     I  don't  know  what  the  question  is. 

T.  Why  don't  you  pay  attention!  What  is  a  trochaic 
verse  ? 

5.  A  trochaic  verse  is  one,  is  one —  (and  a  touching  moist 
scene  is  enacted). 

T.     That  will  do.    Too  bad,  Susan. 

T.     Jim,  stand  up.    What  is  a  pentameter  verse? 

/.  A  pentameter  verse  is  a  verse  that  has  in  it  pentameter 
feet. 

T.     Correct.     You  did  surprisingly  well.     I  am  amazed.* 

T.  Now,  Mike.  (The  book  on  "methods"  says  return  to 
the  victim.)    What  is  a  trochaic  verse? 

M.     A  verse  that — uh-uh-uh. 

T.  Sit  down,  and  pay  attention.  (Mike  begins  to  scribble 
on  a  piece  of  paper.  He  is  commanded  sternly  to  stop 
it,  and  is  ordered  to  manifest  due  respect  for  his  teacher. 
It  happens  again  and  Mike  is  directed  to  find  the  prin- 
cipal's office  instanter.) 

Prin.     What's  the  trouble,  Mike? 

M,.     Nothing. 

P.     Where  did  you  come  from,  Mike? 

M.     English. 

P.  What  were  you  doing  up  there?  What  was  your  lesson 
about  ? 

M.     Oh,  something  about  feet;   a  lot  of  definitions. 

P.     Did  you  prepare  the  lesson,  Mike? 

M.  No.  (The  ethical  exhortation  is  omitted.  Mike  was  ex- 
posed to  an  extended  dissertation  on  the  value  of  indus- 
try, etc.) 

P.  Well,  Mike !  To  be  specific,  what  were  you  doing  at  the 
time  you  were  sent  out  of  the  room? 

*  Jim  is  quite  a  wag.  He  rarely  indulges  in  the  habit  of  study.  He 
is  quick  at  generalizing.  He  soon  caught  on  to  the  author's  method  of 
building  definitions.  He  saw  that  an  X  verse  was  a  verse  that  has  in  it 
X  feet.  When  his  teacher  selected  him  out  for  special  recognition  he 
was  fully  equipped.  For  X  he  simply  substituted  perUameter.  He  could 
have  substituted  jack-rabbit  with  equal  expertness. 


186  DIRECTING   STUDY 

M.     Writing  something. 

P.     A  note  to  your  chum? 

M.     No,  it  wasn't  that. 

P.     Would  you  read  it  to  me? 

M.     (After  gaining  his  composure,  he  reads:) 

There's  metre  in  accent. 

There's  metre  in  tone. 

But  the  best  of  all  metres 

Is  to  metre  alone. 
(At  least  a  sign  of  originality  in  the  use  of  metre  in  the  last  line !) 
P.     Now  I  shall  have  to  punish  you.    If  you  don't  get  to 

work  and  write  a  few  more  stanzas  you  will  have  to  see  me 

at  four  o'clock. 

Without  moralizing,  it  seems  pertinent  to  remark 
that,  actually,  the  only  pupil  in  that  class  who  was 
even  making  an  effort  to  produce,  to  create,  or  to  ap- 
ply anything  was  deleted  from  the  group.  The  dis- 
cipline of  the  room  had  to  be  maintained.  To  metre 
alone  suggests  the  proposition  that  the  pupil  should 
become  the  educative  unit.  Then  it  would  be  clear 
that  our  task  is  to  co-ordinate  and  unify  our  ideals, 
principles,  and  organizing  X^s,  through  a  productive 
sharing  of  experiences  in  a  discussion  procedure  where 
publicity  of  results  may  be  made  a  temptation  to  ex- 
cellence, and  where  emphasis  is  placed  upon  good  work. 

A  Procedure  for  the  Release  of  Potentiality. — A 
teacher  of  the  new  day  began  the  new  challenge  by 
reading  some  ballads.  He  tapped  on  the  desk  and  read 
to  the  rhythm  of  a  galloping  horse.  His  pupils  got 
into  the  rhythmic  swing  and  began  tapping  their  feet 
on  the  floor.  He  said:  "Good!  Come  on  all  of  you 
and  keep  time,  tapping  it  lightly  on  the  floor."  He 
read  several  selections. 

Then  he  remarked:    "  If  you  really  enjoy  this  read- 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  WORK   SPIRIT     187 

ing,  come  to  the  desk  and  find  a  ballad  that  you  would 
like  to  read."  He  had  brought  to  the  class  an  assort- 
ment of  books  for  the  occasion.  Before  the  hour  was 
up  the  class  was  reading  in  a  half-dozen  groups,  a  leader 
in  each  one  taking  responsibility  for  the  order  of  read- 
ing. 

The  next  day  this  teacher  said:  "Suppose  we  write 
some  ballads  ourselves."  They  did  so.  Thirty  pupils 
in  that  class  actually  produced  readable  ballads.  Even 
the  poorest  one  did  not  need  to  be  expurgated  to  make 
it  decent.  Here  is  one  of  the  three  best,  written  by 
Eleanor,  thirteen  years  of  age,  in  a  gth-grade  English 
class: 

YE  WOEFUL  BALLAD   OF  FAIR  ISABEL 

Fair  Isabel  of  Rockloyal 
At  her  window  stood  alone, 
Gazing  the  way  her  lover  rode 
When  he  to  the  wars  was  gone. 

Her  maids  came  in  and  sang  to  her, 
But  she  dreamed  the  livelong  day. 
Suitors  came  and  courted  her. 
But  she  turned  them  all  away. 

He  had  kissed  her  there  and  left  her 
With  a  promise  to  be  true 
And  as  he  had  loved,  so  e'en  had  she. 
And  so  she  had  promised  too. 

One  day  as  she  sat  in  her  chamber 
She  heard  a  step  in  the  hall. 
Her  hoj)es  arose  for  her  lover, 
But  'twas  a  herald  gaimt  and  tall. 

"Hark  ye,"  he  cried,  "I  come  from  far 
Bringing  ye  news  from  the  wars. 


188  DIRECTING   STUDY 

Your  lover  lies  slain  on  the  battle-field 
Across  the  English  moors." 

Her  lips  grew  white  and  her  cheek  turned  pale 
In  a  deadly  swoon  she  fell. 
Naught  that  was  done  covild  restore  her 
And  of  grief  died  the  fair  Isabel. 

Eleanor's  mother  related  her  experience  the  day- 
after.  She  remarked  that  Eleanor  went  to  the  study 
table  and  began  tapping  her  pencil.  When  asked  what 
it  meant  Eleanor  replied  that  she  was  trying  to  write 
a  ballad.  The  mother  thought  it  was  a  foolish  assign- 
ment, quite  beyond  the  capacity  of  her  elder  daughter, 
then  in  college.  Eleanor  apprised  her  mother  that 
the  teacher  had  said:  "Would  you  like  to  write  some 
ballads?"  That  made  a  difference.  In  about  forty 
minutes  after  starting  to  write,  Eleanor  read  the  bal- 
lad as  it  appears  above  to  her  mother.  It  may  be  worth 
while  to  talk  about  the  particular  metre  and  perhaps 
use  the  conventional  terms  after  the  pupils  have 
worked  into  some  creative  self-expression.  Suffice  it 
to  say  that  the  bare  bones  of  definitions  will  assist  no 
one  in  writing  anything. 

Of  course  Eleanor's  poem  was  the  best  in  this  class. 
But  the  doubting  Thomases  should  be  reminded  that 
there  is  no  reason  why  the  standard  of  achievement 
and  qualities  attained  by  a  few  individuals  should 
not  become  the  average  of  the  class.  That  is  the 
meaning  of  evolution:  the  individual  exception  becomes 
the  type  of  the  race.  Effective  freedom  is  the  ideal 
toward  which  we  should  be  striving.  Only  an  infini- 
tesimal fraction  of  human  power  has  been  applied  to 
the  task  of  development.    All  that  is  hoped  for  in  the 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  WORK  SPIRIT     189 

full  release  of  every  wholesome  potentiality  will  not 
come  in  a  day;  the  process  has  been  choked  by  self- 
created  obstacles  and  repressive  measures  of  external 
disciplines  in  home  and  school,  and  by  far  the  larger 
proportion  of  the  progressive  efifort  has  been  spent  in 
overcoming  them.  Huge  sources  of  power  await  lib- 
eration in  every  child.  The  real  problem  is  the  de- 
velopment of  a  technic  by  which  creative  thinking 
may  be  achieved. 

Converting  a  Formal  Recitation  P>rocedure  into  a 
Directed  Challenge  and  a  Co-operative  Movement. — 
Let  us  take  now  an  illustration  of  the  formal  recita- 
tion mode  under  collective  teaching  and  convert  it 
into  a  procedure  a  httle  bit  more  hopeful  and  more 
productive  than  the  usual  question-and-answer  meth- 
od. The  class  was  a  first-year  Latin  section.  The 
teacher  began  in  the  usual  manner,  calling  on  pupils 
to  rise  singly,  give  principal  parts  of  a  verb,  sit  down, 
nejjt,  etc.  After  ten  minutes,  disorder  began  to  dis- 
turb the  procedure.  At  this  juncture  a  sympathetic 
educational  associate  who  was  present  suggested  that 
the  pupils  step  to  the  blackboard.  He  asked  the 
teacher  what  the  objective  was  in  the  lesson.  After 
some  hesitation  and  confusion  it  was  revealed  that  it 
was  concerned  with  a  review  of  the  principal  parts  of 
Latin  verbs.  Very  well.  The  pupils  had  written  their 
names  on  the  board. 

"Now  [to  the  teacher],  what  are  you  going  to  do  next 
in  this  situation  ?  "  It  was  well  done.  The  pupils  were 
asked  to  write  to  lo  in  a  column  under  their  names, 
and  then  to  write  as  rapidly  as  possible  the  principal 
parts  of  any  lo  verbs.  In  two  minutes  Jane  was  finish- 
ing; John  was  coming  along,  nip  and  tuck.    Jack  over 


190  DIRECTING   STUDY 

there,  who  had  been  generously  reminded  in  the  first 
part  of  the  hour  that  he  ought  to  study,  etc.,  was  about 
to  collect  enough  information  out  of  the  corner  of  his 
eye  to  write  the  second  one  in  his  column  of  lo. 

Again,  the  associate  asked  the  teacher:  "What  are 
you  going  to  do  next  in  this  situation?"  And  it  was 
an  interesting  move  on  the  new  chess-board  where 
pupils  and  teacher  were  becoming  reacting  individuals 
in  a  moving  stream.  This  was  the  suggestion :  "Carry 
on;  number  on  up;  go  as  far  as  you  can."  Within 
ten  minutes  Jane  had  written  the  principal  parts  of 
48  verbs,  John  40,  and  Jack  had  accumulated  data 
for  a  stab  at  3.  Other  pupils  ranged  all  the  way  from 
12  to  37. 

Again,  "What  are  you  going  to  do  next  in  this  situa- 
tion ?  "  The  next  move,  and  it  was  the  teacher's  move, 
was  brilliant.  It  was:  "Move  one  place  to  the  right." 
It  happened  that  Jack  was  faced  up  against  Jane's 
array  of  48  verbs.  He  was  heard  to  remark:  "Gosh! 
What  a  girl  Jane  is!"  And  that  makes  a  difference 
too.  The  pupils  checked  any  number  in  which  there 
was  an  error.  Albert,  in  front  of  Jack's  contribution 
of  3  verbs,  finished  checking  at  a  glance. 

Again,  it  became  the  teacher's  move.  "What  are 
you  going  to  do  next  in  this  situation?"  An  excellent 
thing  was  suggested  in  having  Albert  hear  Jack  pro- 
nounce the  principal  parts  of  the  verbs  in  Jane's  array. 

The  hour  was  soon  over  and  there  was  work  still 
to  be  done.  The  pupils  had  been  told  in  the  checking 
to  use  their  books  if  they  were  still  in  doubt.  Already 
the  turbulence  of  doubt  and  inquiry  had  appeared. 
Any  pupil  finding  a  word  in  his  work  incorrectly 
checked  entered  a  vigorous  protest.    The  book  became 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  WORK  SPIRIT    191 

an  authority  and  was  used  to  settle  the  case  in  point. 
Some  doubtful  forms  were  left  for  further  investiga- 
tion. 

A  Basis  for  a  Moral  Responsibility  in  Procedure. — 
How  stupid  it  was  to  fuss  with  Jack  before  the  class 
as  a  whole  in  a  recitation  mode !  Think  of  those  pupils 
in  the  illustration  just  cited  who  were  able  to  write 
from  30  to  48  verbs  with  their  principal  parts.  To 
express  it  in  the  Greek  idiom,  under  the  old  procedure : 
*' Having  been  cut  o£f  as  to  their  heads,  they  died." 
The  teacher  needed  to  be  emancipated,  to  get  above 
the  fragmentary  unit  of  question  and  answer  in  terms 
of  isolated  brute  facts,  and  to  see  in  some  perspective 
the  large  objectives. 

The  whole  situation  was  changed.  The  teacher 
realized  that  a  detailed  plan-book  was  a  handicap. 
A  log-book  in  those  uncharted  seas  might  be  kept  with 
profit.  This  teacher  began  to  grow  when  she  recog- 
nized the  significance  of  putting  to  herself  the  ques- 
tion: "What  shall  I  do  next  in  this  situation?"  This 
question,  projected  constantly  into  a  progressive  series 
of  developing  situations,  fosters  a  continuous  moral 
analysis.  It  is  a  dynamic  in  the  development  of  a 
keen  sense  of  responsibility. 

Teaching  and  Learning^  an  Integration  of  Actions. 
— A  suggestive  hint  comes  from  the  modern  concep- 
tion of  economics  in  the  matter  of  buying  and  selling. 
In  the  old  school  these  aspects  of  trade  were  consid- 
ered as  two  separate  actions.  The  pernicious  effects 
of  this  old  doctrine  are  felt  to-day  in  the  complex  and 
agonizing  problems  of  capital  and  labor.  Now,  in 
theory  at  least,  it  is  recognized  that  it  is  not  a  trans- 
action between  buyer  and  seller  but  rather  an  inter- 


192  DIRECTING  STUDY 

action.  My  selling  is  your  buying  looked  at  from  my 
point  of  view;  your  buying  is  my  selling  looked  at  from 
your  point  of  view.  So  it  is  in  the  educative  process. 
My  teaching  is  your  learning  looked  at  from  my  angle ; 
your  learning  is  my  teaching  looked  at  from  your  side 
of  the  shield.  Teaching  and  learning  are,  in  this  view, 
the  front  and  reverse  sides  of  the  same  sterling  coin. 
It  is  not  a  transaction  between  two  parties,  but  an 
interaction  of  mind  upon  mind. 

The  practice  of  conceiving  teaching  and  learning 
as  two  separate  actions  which  make  the  transaction 
by  a  mechanical  addition,  and  the  notion  that  each 
of  these  actions  can  be  subjected  to  a  moral  evaluation 
in  its  own  right,  must  be  regarded  in  any  social  inter- 
pretation of  education  as  a  possible  source  of  a  whole 
progeny  of  pernicious  mistakes.  Just  so  long  as  status 
exists,  and  teacher-mind  is  contrasted  with  pupil- 
mind,  there  can  be  no  fruitful  application  of  the  social 
principle  to  educational  practice.  Separate  these 
functions  of  teaching  and  learning,  and  nobody  is  re- 
sponsible for  results.  Really  the  language  is  highly 
figurative  and  still  misleading.  The  teacher  who  is 
not  learning,  who  is  not  being  rejuvenated  in  this  inter- 
action of  social  life  with  his  students,  is  in  grave  dan- 
ger of  becoming  a  pedagogue  and  a  pedant. 

Indeterminate  Character  of  New  Procedure. — It 
will  be  remembered  that  the  formations  in  the  class 
above  were  constantly  shifting.  The  new  situations, 
the  "deeds  to  be  done,"  cannot  be  predetermined. 
The  nub  of  the  whole  matter  is  that  this  class  was 
converted  from  a  state  of  passivity  to  a  working  group. 
The  work  spirit  was  created.  There  was  a  wholesome 
contagion  of  work  developed  through  the  interaction 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  WORK  SPIRIT    193 

of  mind  vpon  mind  in  a  spirited  challenge.  When  the 
bell  rang  it  was  not  a  signal  for  a  sigh  of  relief  but  an 
expression  of  surprise  that  the  time  was  up  so  soon. 
Every  individual  became  a  reacting  agent.  No  upper 
limit  was  set  for  any  one.  The  challenge  was  not 
finished  as  a  job  is  finished.  The  dry  bones  of  mini- 
mum-essential content  were  not  being  rattled  about 
after  the  pupils  were  geared  up  into  action.  Minimum 
essentials  always  become  maximum  necessities,  and  tend 
to  suggest  strongly  to  both  pupils  and  teacher  the  notion 
that  things  in  education  can  be  completed  and  set  aside 
and  practically  dismissed  from  the  mind  as  piece-work 
is  finished  and  checked  of  in  the  factory. 

True  Sportsmanship  in  a  Co-operative  Undertaking. 
— The  procedure  toward  which  the  illustration  on  the 
principal  parts  of  verbs  points  is  a  procedure  of  re- 
acting partnerships.  The  teacher  actually  plays  the 
game  as  one  of  the  players.  The  exact  move  cannot 
be  predicted  in  advance  of  the  experiment. 

Even  on  the  chess-board  no  one  commits  to  memory 
some  33,000  possible  formations,  and  plays  the  game 
by  carrying  in  cold  storage  all  these  possible  combina- 
tions and  permutations. 

The  expert  chess-player,  playing  thirty  games  simul- 
taneously, does  not  carry  in  his  memory  the  positions 
of  the  pieces  on  the  several  boards  as  he  walks  around 
in  the  group  from  board  to  board.  He  sizes  up  the 
situation  at  a  glance  and  makes  the  next  move. 

Any  art  or  profession  always  requires  just  that  sort 
of  creative  ability.  It  is  perfectly  futile  to  attempt 
to  store  up  in  the  rag-bag  of  memory  33,000  possible 
combinations  and  permutations  in  which  inert  chess- 
men may  be  placed,  and  then  in  the  game  dig  down 


194  DIRECTING  STUDY 

into  this  rag-bag  of  memory  and  pull  out  an  old  movie 
j&lm  to  be  used  in  the  new  formation  resulting  from 
the  preceding  move  of  the  opposing  player.  Actually 
a  new  movie  film  must  be  created  for  the  new  situation, 
if  it  is  a  life  situation.  The  intelligent  mind  meets  a 
fresh  difficulty  by  a  creative  synthesis,  not  by  a  mere 
copy  formulated  in  advance. 

The  chessmen  have  no  will  of  their  own.  They  stay 
put.  The  boy  moves.  He  is  not  a  lock-step  man  in 
the  making.  And  in  the  intellectual  game,  as  well  as 
in  the  chess  game,  the  expert  player  will  not  be  bent 
on  checkmating  the  learner,  the  beginner,  so  much  as 
setting  up  new  situations  which  keep  open  a  gradual, 
progressive  experimentation  with  emphasis  on  trial 
and  success  and  growth  in  the  direction  of  successful 
experiment.  To  be  sure,  the  amateur  ought  to  be  check- 
mated, now  and  again,  both  to  demonstrate  expert 
ability  and  to  give  pith  and  point  to  good  sportsman- 
ship. The  converse  of  this  proposition  may  be  demon- 
strated with  profit.  "A  sportsman  is  one  who  takes 
his  chance  when  he  ought,  not  when  he  can,"  and  who- 
ever can  define  sportsmanship  can  define  that  which 
animates  and  differentiates  English  education.  "The 
sportsman  shall  not  aim  at  the  sitting  bird  nor  strike 
the  fallen  boxer  nor  quench  the  smoking  flax.  True 
sportsmanship  sweetens  the  competition  of  life,  is 
long-suffering  in  action,  and  is  not  puffed  up  in  reminis- 
cence." * 

"  The  Boy  Moved." — The  delightful  story  is  related 

of  a  great  thinker  who  was  fond  of  golf.    His  difl&culty 

was  an  inability  to  find  the  ball  or  to  orient  himself 

to  the  general  direction  of  it  in  his  drive.     A  fellow 

*  Shane  Leslie,  The  End  of  a  Chapter,  p.  159. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  WORK  SPIRIT    195 

philosopher  suggested  to  him  that  he  ought  to  sight 
by  some  object  when  he  took  his  position  for  his  drive. 
"A  good  idea,"  he  said.  But  there  was  a  repetition 
of  his  old  dij05culty.  He  sighted  by  a  single  object. 
When  asked  if  he  sighted  by  an  object,  he  replied  that 
he  did:  "/  sighted  hy  a  hoy,^^  said  he,  "hut  the  hoy 
moved." 

The  school  too  generally  prepares  itself  to  meet  an 
abstract  average  boy.  It  is  not  enough  to  know  the 
boy's  name.  It  is  rather  difl&cult  to  make  a  state- 
ment of  what  one  really  knows  about  a  boy  in  his  nat- 
ural state.  The  artificial  schoolboy  can  be  defined; 
the  real  boy  eludes  definition.  The  fact  is  we  must 
see  the  boy  in  novel  circumstances  in  order  to  discover 
how  he  behaves.  He  does  not  carry,  as  baggage,  an 
assortment  of  original  traits  which  appear,  as  such,  in 
the  processes  of  his  changing,  growing  life. 

The  boy,  moving  up  into  the  canyon,  prospecting 
in  geometry,  this  hour,  is  a  new  boy;  he  is  in  the 
process  of  hecoming  what  he  otherwise  would  not  be. 
A  change  is  being  effected  in  his  life.  So  it  is  in  every 
part  of  the  curriculum  which  is  actually  being  incor- 
porated into  his  thinking. 

This  boy,  measuring  angles,  that  boy  actually  pro- 
ducing and  creating  his  own  Robinson  Crusoe,  this 
girl  fabricating  the  ballad  or  story,  that  girl  pursuing 
the  multipUcation  tables — all  such  situations  are  novel, 
no  matter  how  many  different  individuals  have  faced 
similar  problems  or  how  often  the  same  individual 
has  ventured  to  think  the  same  problem. 

It  is  a  changing  world,  not  a  fixed  and  final  world 
in  which  the  individual  moves.  The  teacher  needs  to 
think  of  the  boy  and  his  first  adventure  in  a  new  study, 


196  DIRECTING  STUDY 

or,  for  that,  any  study  or  any  part  of  it,  as  constituting 
a  new  situation  demanding  a  reconstruction  of  experi- 
ence as  the  only  possible  attitude  of  mind.  Any  situa- 
tion that  can  be  met  without  it  involves  no  vital 
difficulty  or  real  problem,  and  when  that  is  lacking 
for  either  teacher  or  pupil,  what  is  done  is  of  no  con- 
sequence, and  it  were  even  better  if  it  were  not  done 
at  all.  The  experimental  method  carries  with  it  a 
tremendous  responsibility;  without  it,  the  validity 
and  value  of  what  is  done  should  be  challenged. 

Activity  with  a  Sense  of  Direction. — In  passing, 
therefore,  from  the  primacy  of  subject-matter,  as  such, 
and  accredited  methods,  as  such,  over  to  the  primacy 
of  boys  and  girls  at  work  we  must  be  prepared  for  ever 
new  formations.  The  general  direction  must  be  sensed 
by  the  teacher.  As  pupils  and  teacher  advance,  or- 
ganized as  a  real  prospecting  party,  they  find  them- 
selves at  the  fork  of  the  road  with  every  new  adventure. 
They  must  choose  a  way  and  take  the  consequences  of 
the  choice.  In  a  real  sense  it  is  the  city  that  determines 
the  general  direction  of  the  road;  the  road  does  not 
determine  the  direction  of  the  city.  With  the  city  in 
mind  the  building  of  the  road  is  given  a  direction.  To 
strain  the  analogy  for  what  it  will  bear  the  building 
of  the  road  is  never  completed.  Economy  of  trans- 
portation requires  radical  changes  in  the  old  road- 
bed. What  seemed  to  be  insuperable  obstacles  in 
pioneer  construction  are  now  met  with  courage  and 
determination.  The  tools  and  method  of  modern 
science  have  made  possiBle  improvements  surpassing 
the  wildest  dreams  of  the  early  builders. 

Applying  the  analogy  in  one  direction  the  slogan 
would  be  to  assimilate  in  the  shortest  possible  time, 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  WORK   SPIRIT     197 

with  the  least  effort,  the  greatest  quantity  of  the  most 
important  matter.  Such  is  the  suggestion  of  big  busi- 
ness— an  excellent  idea,  provided  assimilation  does  not 
become  the  end  of  education.  Merely  to  be  active  in 
building  or  improving  the  road  under  the  immediate 
and  constant  direction  of  the  foreman  reduces  the 
performance  to  the  level  of  a  job  in  which  artificial 
stimuli  must  be  employed  to  induce  the  worker  to  go 
forward.  Or,  to  put  it  another  way:  suppose  a  person 
had  all  the  facts,  and  nothing  but  the  facts,  what  would 
he  do  with  them? 

The  city,  the  ideal,  the  goal  must  be  an  objective 
toward  which  all  are  striving,  and  the  humblest  worker 
should  be  given  an  opportunity  to  gain  an  appreciative 
understanding  of  the  co-operative  drive  toward  real 
objectives. 

The  pupil,  in  other  words,  is  not  to  be  carried,  with- 
out effort,  swiftly  over  a  beaten  path  toward  his  rich 
social  heritage.  Each  individual  must  build  for  him- 
self his  world,  and  express  the  values  of  life  through 
the  achievement  of  his  personality.  He  is  not  com- 
mitted to  a  world  fordone  in  which  his  chief  task  is 
to  become  adjusted  to  what  is  in  a  world  of  absolutes, 
but  rather  to  become  the  responsible  agent  in  dealing 
with  a  world  of  changes  by  directing  and  controlling 
forces  under  the  driving  power  of  the  will  to  progress. 
This,  the  will  to  progress,  is  more  important  than  the 
will  to  live. 

Dewey's  expressive  figure,  "At  the  fork  of  the  road," 
suggests  the  moral  hazard  in  teaching.  What  to  do 
next,  if  education  begins  at  the  point  of  crisis,  cannot 
be  reduced  to  blue-prints  and  plan-books.  Confronted 
with  new  situations,  responsibility  for  the  exercise  of 


198  DIRECTING  STUDY 

initiative  in  choosing  some  productive  next  move  rests 
definitely  upon  the  teacher — a  responsibility,  however, 
which  may  be  shared  by  the  pupils. 

Opportunity  for  Self-Expression  in  the  New  and  the 
Old  Procedure. — Returning  to  the  redirected  class, 
wrestling  with  Latin  verbs,  all  pupils  were  given  full 
opportunity  for  self-expression.  The  teacher  working 
into  a  half-dozen  major  suggestions  for  some  next  steps, 
instead  of  agonizing  along  with  loo  or  more  choppy 
questions  or  commands  directed  at  some  individual, 
became  at  once  a  guide,  a  consulting  expert,  a  director 
of  activities.  Each  individual  had  a  chance  to  do  his 
best.  No  one  was  held  back  on  account  of  a  slower 
one,  or  one  who  was  duck-backing  an  education.  The 
opportunity  was  offered,  too,  for  the  development  of 
partnerships.  All  sorts  of  groupings  are  immediately 
possible  in  the  expansion  of  the  procedure  initiated. 

Norman  MacMunn,  a  teacher  of  French,  has  very 
pertinently  pointed  out  that  the  average  time  given 
to  oral  expression  in  the  recitation  system  does  not 
exceed  one  and  one-half  minutes  daily  for  each  pupil. 

The  actual  loss  of  speaking-time  enjoyed  by  each  boy  under 
the  old  [collective  teaching]  as  compared  with  the  new  system 
[partnership  teaching]  is  simply  immense.  I  suppose  most 
masters  have  realized  that  in  a  French  class  of  twenty,  if  they 
themselves  speak  half  of  each  hour,  a  boy  has  only  one  minute 
and  a  half  in  which  to  express  himself !  Is  it  any  wonder  that 
even  after  seven  years  of  exiguous  practice  he  is  frequently  at  a 
loss  to  frame  the  simplest  sentence?  I  am  surprised  that  he 
speaks  as  weU  as  he  does,  considering  that  his  actual  conver- 
sational practice  in  those  seven  years  has  probably  amounted 
to  something  like  twenty-four  hours.* 

*  MacMunn,  Norman,  A  Path  to  Freedom  in  the  School,  p.  38. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  WORK  SPIRIT    199 

With  thirty  pupils  and  a  teacher  who  talks  exces- 
sively it  would  be  difl&cult  to  find  one  minute  for  each 
pupil. 

Doubtless  nine  out  of  ten  of  us  who  have  studied 
geometry  and,  incidentally,  have  thanked  God  that 
we  are  done  with  that^  memorized  the  theorem  and  in 
the  proof  reproduced  the  steps  by  which  some  one  else 
— the  author,  the  teacher,  father,  or  mother,  or  fellow 
pupil — had  come  to  his  conclusion.  For  most  of  us  a 
triangle  suggests  a  definition  running  something  like  a 
plane  surface  bounded  by  three  straight  lines,  accom- 
panied by  a  survival  of  a  few  dim  visual  patterns  de- 
picted some  years  ago  out  there  on  the  blackboard  or 
in  the  book,  remembered,  if  at  all,  as  a  mere  copy. 

The  boy  who  defined  his  triangle  as  a  thing  to  think 
with  was  about  to  escape  intellectual  paralysis,  and 
actually  to  gain  a  functional  meaning  of  his  mathe- 
matics. 

A  refreshing  point  of  view  is  gained  in  working  out 
**  Education  as  World  Building,"  *  e.  g.  : 

I  study  Euclid's  geometry.  It  is  simply  an  occasion  for  me 
to  make  my  own  geometry.  I  must  conceive  a  point,  a  line,  a 
plane,  a  solid.  /  must  feel  the  necessity  of  regarding  the  sum 
of  the  angles  of  a  triangle  as  two  right  angles. 

If  Shakespeare  shares  his  meaning  with  us,  why  do  some 
say  Hamlet  was  mad  and  others  that  he  was  not  mad?  To 
Shakespeare  he  must  have  been  mad,  or  not  mad,  or  both  to- 
gether, and  if  we  simply  take  Shakespeare's  meaning  (or  the 
teacher's  or  some  one  else's)  it  must  be  only  one  of  these  that 
we  can  hold,  and  Hamlet  should  mean  the  same  definite  per- 
sonality to  us  that  he  meant  to  Shakespeare.  There  would  be 
no  room  for  scholars'  quarrels  if  truth  were  handed  down  in  that 
way.    The  far  greater  service  that  he  has  rendered,  the  service 

*  Moore,  E.  C,  What  is  Education,  chap.  IV,  and  particularly  p.  131  jf. 


200  DIRECTING   STUDY 

of  every  artist,  inventor,  lawgiver,  and  teacher  renders,  is  just 
the  one  that  my  friend  renders  when  he  converses  with  me; 
namely,  that  of  providing  materials  of  experience  for  me  to  in- 
terpret. 

The  Beginnings  of  Co-operative  Teaching. — So  one 
may  go  on  urging  the  proposition  that  the  pupil  must 
learn  his  French,  his  English,  his  science,  his  history, 
etc.,  just  as  he  learns  to  lace  his  shoes,  and  that  way 
is  by  lacing  his  shoes.  He  grows  along  the  line  of  suc- 
cessful experiment.  It  occurred  to  MacMunn  that  his 
boys  could  not  learn  to  speak  French  by  a  vicarious 
method.  They  needed  to  hear  him  speak  it  correctly; 
that  is  granted  without  dissenting  opinion.  But,  just 
as  pupils  in  English  classes  gain  practically  nothing 
by  listening  to  desultory  essays  and  exhortations  on 
correct  style,  so  in  a  foreign  language  pupils  do  not 
learn  to  speak  it  if  the  teacher  does  all  the  speaking. 

The  suggestion  has  already  been  made  in  the  pro- 
cedure discussed  in  the  redirected  Latin  class  that 
productive  partnership  teaching  could  be  inaugurated 
without  having  a  "Wild  West  show"  or  a  "bear  gar- 
den." Any  intelligent  person  will  draw  a  valid  distinc- 
tion between  the  normal  wish  to  "paddle  one's  own 
canoe"  and  a  neurotic  craving  for  relief  from  any  form 
of  restraint.  A  joyous  contentment  in  a  real,  not  a 
fictitious,  freedom  should  be  diligently  sought.  The 
development  of  courage,  initiative,  originality,  whole- 
some self-assertiveness  is  possible  after  the  "consti- 
tution is  adopted."  Vital  education  in  a  democracy 
finds  no  insuperable  paradox  in  Authority  and  Freedom. 
Obviously  groupings  can  be  productively  worked  out 
with  the  caution  that  groupings  are  tentative  and 
that  a  so-called  socialized  recitation  which  is  not  at  every 


THE   DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE   WORK   SPIRIT    201 

stage  within  the  immediate  grip  of  the  teacher  is  an  edu- 
cational tragedy. 

Illustrations  of  procedure  in  which  opportunities  are 
offered  for  partnership  teaching  have  been  suggested. 
The  application  of  the  conception  of  emerging  leader- 
ships, the  recognition  of  emerging  power  and  capacity 
through  gradual  and  progressive  experimentation,  will 
enable  the  new  teacher  to  introduce  the  sound  prin- 
ciples and  practices  of  a  shared  life. 

Albert  was  perfectly  competent  to  hear  Jack  pro- 
nounce the  principal  parts  of  the  verbs  in  Jane's  con- 
tribution (see  page  190).  Jane  was  ready  to  take  re- 
sponsibility with  a  group  of  four  pupils  over  in  the 
corner  of  the  room  to  practice  with  them  in  giving 
each  other  the  principal  parts  of  verbs.  The  first  acid 
test  of  a  vital  class  period  is  the  work  spirit.  The  dust 
of  industry  is  a  good  sign.  The  teacher  is  included  in 
this  test.  The  practice  of  setting  a  uniform  task  and 
devoting  a  part  of  the  class  period  to  a  uniform  study 
of  it,  to  be  followed  by  a  recitation  of  a  set  lesson,  is 
the  surest  possible  method  of  producing  an  idle,  super- 
vising teacher  whose  primary  business  is  to  perform 
police  duty. 

The  daily  set-lesson  assignment  must  give  way  to 
the  indeterminate,  yet  very  definite,  challenge.  Let  us 
go  back  to  the  boy  on  the  farm  who  was  willing  to  do 
all  the  work  if  somebody  else  would  do  the  chores. 
Give  a  real,  aggressive  boy  daily  assignments  in  pulling 
little  weeds  and  he  will  leave  the  farm,  and  despise  it 
the  rest  of  his  days.  Give  him  a  fifty-acre  realization 
with  a  full  co-operating  share  in  the  responsibility  for 
its  management,  a  real  challenge  and  an  indeterminate 
assignment,  and  "it's  dogged  that  does  it"  with  a  chal- 


202  DIRECTING  STUDY 

lenge  in  which  he  appreciates  the  necessity  of  hard 
work,  and,  if  that  boy  leaves  the  farm  for  profession 
or  business,  he  will  always  cherish  a  desire  to  return 
to  it. 

In  the  one  case  he  must  be  driven  to  his  chores, 
heckled  about  his  habits  of  work.  It  becomes  a  mo- 
notonous routine,  a  tiresome  repetition.  To  be  as- 
signed little  jobs,  daily,  kills  initiative  in  the  worker. 
There  is  no  vision  in  isolated,  set  tasks.  In  the  other 
situation,  a  man's  job  makes  its  appeal  to  the  adoles- 
cent. A  challenge  does  not  deal  with  perpetual  rest 
cures.  The  field  is  to  be  ploughed  and  prepared  for 
the  crops;  the  crops  are  to  be  cultivated,  harvested, 
and  marketed.  A  chain  of  purposive  activities  runs 
through  it  all.  There  is  a  linking  up  in  the  mind,  a 
series  of  progressive  concretes  which  enter  into  the 
total  achievement.  It  is  the  spirit  of  challenge,  the 
dynamic  of  a  big,  worth-while  realization  that  appeals 
to  youth. 

The  daily  grind  resulting  from  superimposed  tasks 
unrelated  to  any  vital  self-appreciating,  self-initiating 
purpose  is  fatal  to  self-respect,  pride,  initiative,  indus- 
try, resourcefulness.  Moreover,  artificial  rewards  and 
external  pressures  are  resorted  to  in  the  attempt  to 
create  interest  in  the  daily  assignments.  Boys  in  the 
process  of  being  corrupted  have  to  be  paid  (bribed) 
by  their  parents  to  do  the  little  jobs  about  the  home 
and  on  the  farm.  A  genuine  sharing  of  the  respon- 
sibility for  the  planning  and  working  out  of  the  large 
enterprises  of  the  home,  the  farm,  the  business  capti- 
vates the  boy's  imagination  and  enhances  his  self- 
esteem.  He  is  made  to  feel  that  he  counts  and  that 
his  ideas  are  valued  and  appreciated  in  an  honest  part- 
nership. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  WORK  SPIRIT    203 

Somehow  along  this  route  the  release  of  potentialities 
is  going  to  be  realized.  By  starting  with  the  big  realiza- 
tion, the  challenge,  and  keeping  it  focal  in  the  experi- 
ment of  bringing  up  bo)rs  on  the  farm,  and  elsewhere 
no  doubt,  the  chores  wiU  be  done;  the  weeds  will  be 
uprooted  in  a  new  spirit  when  the  emphasis  is  shifted 
to  the  values  of  the  crops.  This  rough  analogy  should 
not  break  down  entirely  when  it  comes  to  a  looping 
up  of  facts  and  dabs  of  information  in  a  purposeful 
challenge  in  education. 

A  Real  Questioning  Process. — Much  ado  has  been 
made  in  recent  years  over  fact  questions  and  thought 
questions.  The  real  issue  does  not  seem  to  lie  in  that 
direction,  for  it  makes  little  difference  if  the  landfall 
has  been  prearranged.  To  propound  a  thought  ques- 
tion that  does  not  become  the  pupil's  thought  ques- 
tion tends  to  emphasize  the  old  order  in  which  a  trans- 
action, not  an  interaction,  is  made.  If  the  question  is 
already  answered  on  the  printed  page  it  is  really  not 
a  thought  question.  In  reality,  the  answers  precede  the 
questions  in  the  prevailing  practices  in  education.  To 
get  a  real  question  in  front  of  some  potential  answer 
is  a  most  difficult  task;  it  is  a  task  imposed  by  the 
scientific  method.  Usually  the  book  contains  the  in- 
formation and  the  conclusions  ready-made ;  the  learner 
is  required  to  exercise  powers  of  memory  for  words 
and  phrases  and  some  discrimination  in  shades  of 
meaning.  Yet  a  child  in  the  primary  grades  before 
reading  Robinson  Crusoe  or  being  told  the  story  is 
able  to  create  his  Robinson  Crusoe  by  skilful  ques- 
tioning.* 

*  Hall  and  Hall,  The  Question  as  a  Factor  in  Teaching,  see  Intro,  and 
chap.  I. 


204  DIRECTING   STUDY 

For  example: 

Teacher.  Once  there  was  a  man  left  on  an  island  all  alone. 
How  did  he  get  there? 

Pupils.     (They  will  find  a  way.) 

Teacher.  What  shall  we  call  our  lonely  man?  (It  makes 
no  difference  what  we  call  him  in  so  far  as  our  thinking  is 
concerned.  The  teacher  proposes  the  name  Robinson 
Crusoe,  and  that  suggests  a  need  and  a  way  of  socializing 
subject-matter.) 

Teacher.  (Later  in  one  of  the  developing  challenges.)  One 
day  your  Robinson  Crusoe  got  sick.  What  could  you  do 
in  your  home,  if  you  were  sick,  that  your  Robinson  Crusoe 
could  not  do?    What  would  he  do? 

Pupils.     (They  will  work  it  out.) 

In  other  words,  we  are  endeavoring  to  suggest  a  way 
of  getting  some  question  in  front  of  some  potential 
answer  in  situations  which  stimulate  and  encourage 
pupils  in  creative  thinking.  The  material  of  Defoe's 
Crusoe  can  be  utilized;  after  the  pupil  has  produced 
his  Crusoe  in  some  one  of  the  hypothetical  situations 
suggested  above,  the  material  of  the  book  on  that 
situation  might  be  read  or  related  with  profit  side  by 
side  with  the  child's  contribution.  The  story  of  Robin- 
son Crusoe  furnishes,  in  a  sense,  the  motif  for  history. 
The  teacher  who,  in  dealing  with  the  narrative  of  his- 
tory, could  cast  up  now  and  again  situations  to  which 
the  pupil  might  react  in  terms  of  his  creativeness  would 
soon  find  a  gripping  dynamic  in  the  interpretation  of 
history.  All  through  the  unfolding  of  the  inspiring 
national  panorama  opportunities  arise  for  stating  a 
few  salient  situations,  a  few  outstanding  facts  and 
guiding  principles  which  may  be  utilized  in  a  procedure 
intended  to  direct  and  stimulate  the  pupil  to  project 


THE   DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  WORK  SPIRIT    205- 

his  judgment  in  a  possible  or  tentative  solution.  An 
occasional  departure  in  the  Robinson  Crusoe  method 
would  tend  to  obviate  the  mechanical  practice  of  im- 
pressing upon  the  minds  of  others  a  slavish  copy  of 
the  doctrine  taught  and,  also,  the  danger  of  falling 
into  an  uncritical  absorption  of  information  would  be 
counteracted.  The  teacher  who  will  make  the  ad- 
venture in  the  Robinson  Crusoe  method  with  any 
child  or  group  of  children  will  "see  visions  and  dream 
dreams"  in  the  land  of  educational  possibilities. 

The  entire  Chapter  XI  in  Dewey's  How  We  Think, 
dealing  with  "Empirical  and  Scientific  Thinking,"  should 
be  studied  in  this  connection.  What  the  teacher  is 
doing  in  such  procedure  is  to  fabricate  a  very  definite 
organization  of  circumstances  to  which  the  pupils 
respond;  or,  if  the  analogy  of  the  chess  game  is  apt, 
the  teacher  moves  and  thereby  creates  a  new  situation 
which  calls  for  a  purposeful  response  from  the  other 
players  in  the  game.  Scholarship  for  the  teacher  is 
actually  recreated  in  the  interaction  of  social  life.  So 
much  is  offered  as  "substance  of  doctrine,"  and  for 
suggestion  as  to  departure.  Not  all  stories  are  to  be 
handled  as  this  one  is  here;  but  by  making  provision 
for  productive,  creative  questioning  in  a  few  instances^ 
a  distinction  will  be  gained  between  education  in  terms 
of  telling  and  absorbing  and  education  in  terms  of 
creative  thinking. 

"Freedom  of  thought  implies,  among  other  things, 
that  the  teacher  of  anything  from  the  '3  R's'  to  theol- 
ogy provokes  the  originality  of  his  pupil  not  as  a  re- 
cipient but  as  a  reacting  agent;  accepts  him  as  the 
predominant  partner  in  the  work  of  education,  and 
aims  at  a  result  which  shall  contain  a  large  contribu- 


206  DIRECTING  STUDY 

tion  from  the  free  activity  of  his  mind.  Under  genuine 
freedom  nothing  can  be  further  from  the  aim  of  the 
teacher  than  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  others  a 
slavish  copy  of  the  doctrine  taught,  even  though  this 
should  happen  to  be  the  doctrine  of  freedom  itself."  * 

Freedom  of  thought,  therefore,  does  not  mean  merely 
that  every  individual  is  licensed  to  address  his  opin- 
ons  to  the  world  in  unlimited  monologue.  Think  of 
the  lecture  system  and  the  recitation  system !  The 
procedure  that  employs  to  some  extent  the  principles 
arising  in  productive  conversation  may  be  the  means 
of  creating  this  originality  or  the  means  of  developing 
a  true  freedom  through  the  release  of  personality.  In 
this  view  freedom  comes  to  mean  capacity — real  power 
coupled  with  responsibility.  Through  a  system  of 
reacting  partnerships  may  we  not  expect  the  develop- 
ment of  an  individual  who  can  really  think  ? 

"The  amount  of  intellectual  activity  is  enormous; 
but  of  creativeness,  which  is  the  mark  of  freedom,  there 
is  remarkably  little." 

Possibilities  of  Problem  Method. — Beginning  with 
this  Robinson  Crusoe  method  a  scale  may  be  built 
up,  culminating  in  the  method  of  Agassiz,  who,  it  will 
be  recalled,  lifted  his  teaching  to  a  very  high,  inde- 
pendent project  level  when  he  gave  young  Bigelow 
the  triolobite  to  work  on.  Without  instruction,  lec- 
ture, or  readings,  without  a  microscope  and  a  book  of 
detail  and  drawing  of  what  he  was  to  see  in  the  micro- 
scope, the  student  just  had  to  see  it  and  describe  it 
himself.  Along  the  scale,  particularly  in  the  junior 
and  senior  high  school,  co-operative  challenges,  with- 
out a  deadening  uniformity,  should  be  emphasized. 
♦See  L.  P.  Jacks,  Alchemy  of  Thought. 


THE   DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  WORK   SPIRIT    207 

A  gradual  elaboration  of  the  procedure  just  illus- 
trated can  be  developed.  Greater  attention  should  be 
given  to  approximations  in  teaching  mathematics,  with 
perhaps  no  less  emphasis  on  cold  figures;  much  could 
be  done  in  the  interpretation  of  figures  when  applied 
to  the  ambiguities  of  life.*  History  may  be  taught 
in  vistas;  the  brute  facts  may  be  looped  up  in  social 
problems  having,  at  least,  a  vital  connection  with  the 
life  of  to-day. 

We  have  now  come  to  terms  with  pragmatism  and 
creative  evolution,  and  we  see  that  to  study  botany 
means  that  the  student  is  to  become  a  botanizing  in- 
dividual; he  is  not  to  assimilate  what  specialists  have 
to  say  about  botany  and  learn  merely  to  recite  it  with 
a  lip-service  to  knowledge. 

In  all  this  it  is  well  to  keep  an  unclouded  perspective 
of  the  scientific  method,  the  general  theory  of  which 
is  applied  by  the  artist  and  the  sculptor,  as  well  as  by 
the  modern  experimental  scientist.  First  there  must 
be  a  problem  for  solution,  a  question  to  be  thought 
about.  Always  there  must  be  a  way  of  thinking;  an 
hypothesis  is  simply  a  way  of  redefining  the  problem. f 
The  facts  that  seem  to  bear  upon  the  problem  or  ques- 
tion must  be  examined  in  a  process  of  thinking;  as 
they  are  examined  the  hypothesis  itself  is  constantly 
redefined. 

The  circle  is  a  function  of  the  radius;  the  radius 
does  not  stand  in  a  causal  relation  to  the  circle.  The 
weight  is  a  function  of  the  fulcrum.  It  is  only  in 
the  support  of  the  claims  of  status  and  erudition  that 
brute  facts,  mere  information,  could  have  significance. 

*  See  Kenneth  Richmond,  Education  for  Liberty,  p.  70. 
t  Moore,  E.  C,  What  Is  Education,  pp.  202  and  245/. 


208  DIRECTING   STUDY 

Words  or  language  must  be  conceived  as  a  function 
of  abstraction,  if  their  true  dynamic  significance  is  to 
be  appreciated.  A  barren  fact,  isolated  from  all  or- 
ganizing principles,  problems,  or  questions,  would  be 
an  anachronism  in  any  interpretation  of  education 
vitally  directed  toward  creative  intelligence. 

An  infinite  number  of  bonds  can  be  built  up  in  the 
lower  nervous  centres  capable  of  handling  simple  cases 
of  stereotyped  situations  and  responses.  7X9  and 
63;  Declaration  of  Independence  and  1776 — literally 
thousands  of  these  bonds  can  be  tied  up  by  a  direct 
mechanical  method  in  a  deliberate  programme  of 
schooling. 

An  unintelligent  mind  can  be  trained  to  an  astonish- 
ing degree  of  efficiency  in  the  reproduction  of  correct 
answers  to  stereotyped  questions.  The  question  in 
this  usage  is  nothing  more  than  a  repetition  of  some 
code  intended  to  produce  a  situation  to  which  there 
is  a  hand-me-down  response. 

Our  critics  will  immediately  urge  the  absolute  neces- 
sity of  acquiring  facts  and  information,  as  such,  and 
will  enter  into  an  elaborate  defense  of  systems  and 
methods  calculated  to  free  "the  lady  who  is  the  genius 
of  our  tongue."  And  yet  with  all  these  earnest  striv- 
ings after  results  and  standards  one  of  the  most  com- 
mon indictments  teachers  make  in  any  administrative 
unit  or  course  is  the  indictment  lodged  against  the 
educators  in  the  preceding  administrative  unit  or 
course  to  the  effect  that  the  "students  don't  know 
anything." 

Complete  statistics  which  would  tell  us  how  many  of  all  the 
pupils  who  study  Latin,  algebra,  and  geometry  fail  to  master 
them  do  not  exist.    But  we  know  that  a  large  percentage  of  the 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  WORK  SPIRIT    209 

better  students  of  these  subjects  try  the  college-entrance  ex- 
aminations, and  that  for  these  examinations  many  receive  spe- 
cial drill  in  addition  to  regular  teaching.  Now  in  the  examina- 
tion held  by  the  CoUege  Entrance  Board  in  191 5,  76.6  per  cent 
of  the  candidates  failed  to  make  even  a  mark  of  60  in  Cicero; 
75  per  cent  failed  to  make  a  mark  of  60  per  cent  in  the  first  six 
books  of  Virgil,  every  line  of  which  they  had  presumably  re- 
read; 69.7  per  cent  of  those  examined  from  quadratics  on  failed 
to  make  as  much  as  60  per  cent;  42.4  per  cent  failed  to  make 
60  per  cent  in  plane  geometry.  What  would  the  record  be  if 
aU  who  studied  these  subjects  were  thus  examined  by  an  im- 
partial outside  body  ?  * 

This  quotation  from  "The  Modern  School"  is  mis- 
leading in  the  fact  that  only  three  subjects  are  selected. 
The  results  in  other  subjects  of  secondary  education 
are  just  as  illuminating.  Furthermore,  an  investiga- 
tion of  the  four  years  of  collegiate  training  beyond  the 
high  school  might  disclose  results  quite  as  interesting. 

The  general  method  of  assimilation  under  the  lec- 
ture system  is  ordinarily  a  continuation  of  the  recita- 
tion process.  The  main  emphasis  throughout  these 
eight  years  is  assimilation  and  reproduction  of  informa- 
tion and  conclusions  of  others.  The  attitude  toward 
the  printed  page  throughout  this  period  is  essentially 
the  same;  the  primary  emphasis  is  assimilation  of 
subject-matter.  This  is  not  true  in  the  modern  ten- 
dency and  practice  in  the  teaching  of  geometry,  for 
example.  There  has  come  about  in  the  past  three 
decades  a  shift  of  emphasis,  in  that  theorems  and 
propositions  with  elaborate  proofs  are  not  memorized 
and  recited  as  formerly,  but  theorems  and  propositions 
with  a  few  hints  for  proof  are  now  being  used  as  tools 

*  Flexner,  The  Modern  School,  p.  6.     See  also  an  article  by  the  same 
author  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  April,  1917. 


210  DIRECTING   STUDY 

in  the  solution  of  original  exercises.  The  main  em- 
phasis is  being  transferred  to  the  exercises.  Other 
subjects  in  the  curriculum  are  beginning  to  be  ap- 
proached in  a  similar  manner. 

A  prominent  college  professor  of  history  became 
sceptical  about  his  lecture  method  and  assignment  of 
readings.  He  concluded  to  equip  his  classroom  with 
books  and  other  materials  and  have  his  students  re- 
port there  in  groups  of  fifty  for  laboratory  study  and 
direction.  He  worked  out  a  plan  of  directing  study 
for  college  freshmen  and  sophomores.  He  knew  with- 
in two  or  three  weeks  after  the  opening  of  the  semester 
something  definite  and  fruitful  about  the  habits  of 
study  and  working  powers  of  his  students.  The  lec- 
tures were  continued,  but  they  became  at  once  ma- 
terial to  be  worked  up  by  the  students  in  the  solution 
of  problems  in  the  study  of  which  the  professor  of  his- 
tory took  an  active  part  in  directing  the  work  of  the 
laboratory.  For  this  college  professor  open  season 
for  condemning  the  high  school  was  closed. 

The  argument  for  a  productive  form  of  co-operative 
learning  with  the  emphasis  deliberately  placed  upon 
power  to  think  does  not  telescope  the  significance  of 
information  and  accredited  scholarship.  In  fact,  the 
plea  is  for  a  rational  use  of  data  and  a  rational  de- 
pendence upon  authority.  By  a  looping  up  of  facts 
and  information  in  a  driving,  purposeful,  thought- 
provoking  problem,  question,  challenge,  or  project  it 
is  maintained  that  an  infinitely  greater  amount  of 
accredited  information  will  stick  to  the  intellectual 
ribs  of  our  students.  The  main  emphasis  is  not,  how- 
ever, on  capacity  to  accumulate  and  reproduce  ready- 
made  knowledge  and  accepted  conclusions. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  WORK  SPIRIT    211 

Recitation  Subordinated  to  a  Forward  Drive. — The 

effect  of  developing  a  class  period  in  which  the  domi- 
nant idea  is  that  every  pupil  shall  be  at  work  is  alto- 
gether wholesome.  The  longer  class  period  of  sixty-five 
to  seventy-five  minutes  can  be  justified  under  the 
laboratory  procedure.  Recitation,  simply  as  an  end 
in  itself,  is  reduced  to  a  minimum.  The  pupil  engaged 
in  the  passive  art  of  listening  and  paying  attention  is 
not  found  in  the  new  school.  The  capacity  to  redte 
the  conclusions  of  another  or  of  a  book  is  clearly  sub- 
ordinated to  a  demonstrated  ability  to  use  these  ready- 
made  conclusions  and  all  sorts  of  facts  in  attacking  a 
problem,  topic,  question,  experiment. 

It  becomes  infinitely  more  important  for  the  new 
teacher  to  see  that  problems  are  properly  raised  than 
to  hear  lessons  "said."  The  programme  of  directing 
study  enables  each  pupil  to  go  forward  with  his  prob- 
lem at  his  own  best  rate.  The  interests  of  the  class, 
as  a  working  group,  are  unified  and  co-ordinated 
through  discussion  and  by  means  of  common  organiz- 
ing principles  which  constitute  the  ways  of  conceiving 
or  thinking  the  problem  or  challenge.  Work,  intel- 
ligently begun  in  the  class  period,  may  be  rationally 
continued  out  of  class.  The  teacher  is  concerned  not 
only  with  these  common  organizing  cores  of  a  given 
course,  but  also  with  the  thinking  and  tangible  prog- 
ress of  each  pupil.  Class  discussion  is  a  form  of  activity 
toward  which  the  movement  of  a  given  topic  or  principle 
should  tend ;  it  may  he  made  productive  after  pupils  have 
worked  into  a  problem  or  challenge. 

Eliminating  Waste  in  Recitation. — The  disposition 
to  receive  an  education  is  no  doubt  cultivated  through 
excessive   explanation,    through    the   presentation    of 


212  DIRECTING  STUDY 

finished  and  complete  copies  of  thought,  and  by  a 
passive  and  uncritical  acceptance  of  the  moving-picture 
variety  of  instruction.  The  finished  demonstration  of 
a  problem  in  geometry  or  a  detailed  discussion  of  an 
experiment  in  chemistry  has  little  value  for  the  stu- 
dent who  has  made  no  effort  to  master  the  problem 
or  experiment.  The  practice  of  assigning  the  next  ten 
exercises  in  the  book  as  a  set  lesson  to  be  studied  out 
of  class,  and  then  on  the  following  day  writing  the 
solutions  on  the  board  and  using  class  time  in  saying 
them  over  from  the  board,  is  a  practice  having  little 
value  for  the  pupil  who  does  not  understand  what  it 
is  all  about,  and  probably  no  value  for  the  pupils  who 
do  understand  and  who  have  diligently  prepared  their 
lessons. 

After  working  into  the  challenge  it  is  desirable  and 
profitable  to  have  the  whole  class  participate  as  some 
one  presents  a  good  demonstration,  reads  a  good  story, 
or  executes  a  bit  of  fine  workmanship.  Competition, 
emulation,  pride  are  given  a  dominant  emphasis 
through  judicious  praise  and  publicity  of  results. 

It  is  an  uneconomical  use  of  the  class  period  to  re- 
quire the  whole  class  to  listen  to  shoddy,  indifferent, 
muddled  explanations  of  some  pupils,  just  as  it  is  a 
sheer  waste  of  the  time  and  energy  of  pupils  to  compel 
them  to  pay  collective  attention  to  the  performance 
of  extracting  information  from  a  boy  whose  mind  is 
apparently  empty,  or  who  is  considered  impervious  to 
learning,  or  who  for  some  reason  is  hors  de  combat  be- 
fore the  class.  It  is  maintained  that  no  normally 
constituted  individual  is  destined  to  continue  a  failure. 
Any  inference  here  that  any  such  pupil  must  remain 
a  bungling  performer  is  wholly  gratuitous. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE   WORK   SPIRIT    213 

Summarizing  Statement. — Two  major  considerations 
are  beginning  to  emerge  in  our  discussion.  The  first 
is  a  partial  socialization  of  procedure  in  which  certain 
informal  arrangements  are  made  from  time  to  time 
for  a  mutual  sharing  of  interest,  co-operative  learning, 
various  forms  of  mutual  teaching  and  group  work. 
The  second  relates  to  a  functional  interpretation  of 
subject-matter;  and  the  aim  is  to  substitute  for  the 
rigid  set-lesson  assignment  with  its  dominant  emphasis 
upon  regimental  uniformity  the  indeterminate  chal- 
lenge lifted  to  the  problem  level  or  case  method  of  teach- 
ing. Both  of  these  aspects  of  directing  study,  as  inter- 
preted in  this  discussion,  are  tied  up  in  a  deeper  unity 
suggested  in  the  view  that  the  class  period  shall  be 
converted  into  a  work  period  in  which  the  pupil  passes 
unequivocally  from  a  recipient  or  spectator  to  a  reacting, 
participating  agent. 


CHAPTER  VI 

APPLICATION  OF  THE  SOCIAL  PRINCIPLE 

Unreliability  of  External  Criteria  of  Supervised 
Study. — In  making  explicit  and  deliberate  use  of  the 
social  principle  in  the  development  of  procedures  the 
formalist  will  look  in  vain  for  external  and  arbitrary- 
patterns  by  which  to  carry  on  the  activities  of  the  class. 
Just  what  are  the  inescapable  earmarks  of  supervised 
study?  The  insistent  demand  is  to  explain  the  ma- 
chinery. Device-minded  teachers  and  supervisors 
may  be  expected  to  look  for  some  stable  and  persistent 
signs  by  which  to  know  that  whatever  bears  the  stamp 
of  supervised  study  will  be  that  and  nothing  more.  The 
mind  that  operates  with  its  x  plus  y  equals  z,  in  a  fixed 
algebraic  world,  will  demand  a  precise  x  and  a  definite 
y;  for  it  is  only  by  having  fixed  external  truth  that 
such  a  mind  finds  security. 

So  we  have  the  superficial  reform  of  a  "socialized 
recitation"  with  some  tangible  machinery  of  self-gov- 
ernment, a  pupil  presiding  and  calling  for  recitations 
or  some  other  sign  of  pupil  responsibility.  Or  again, 
we  find  some  school  naming  what  it  does  supervised 
study,  and  receiving  advertising  that  what  is  named  it 
is  it,  when  the  only  tangible  evidence  of  a  supervised- 
study  procedure  is  a  division  of  the  class  period  into 
two  equal  parts,  one-half  of  which  is  devoted  to  the 
study  of  the  lesson  preparatory  to  a  formal  recitation 
of  it.     During  the  so-called  supervised-study  period 

214 


THE  SOCIAL  PRINCIPLE  215 

the  business  of  the  teacher  may  be  exactly  described. 
It  may  be  that  the  teacher  occupies  the  "furtive  pul- 
pit," and  from  that  commanding  position  sees  to  it 
that  no  pupil  is  out  of  order  externally.  Or  there  may 
be  a  consistent  type  of  activity,  going  from  pupil  to 
pupil  rendering  such  assistance  as  he  may  need  during 
that  part  of  the  hour  which  is  designated  supervised 
study.  Other  formal  and  stereotyped  modes  of  ac- 
tivity might  be  mentioned.  It  is  doubtful,  however, 
if  any  real  freedom  in  teaching  can  be  developed  by 
attempting  to  formalize  supervised  study.  An  atti- 
tude of  mind,  a  disposition  to  experiment  and  to  take 
full  responsibility  for  the  adventure,  a  realization  of 
the  possibiHties  of  a  stimulating  intellectual  game, 
and  a  fearless  appKcation  of  our  modern  educational 
philosophy  and  technic  would  tend  to  undercut  didactic 
methods.  Where  there  is  freedom  to  experiment  there 
is  hope  to  improve. 

Productive  Activity. — The  surest  criterion  of  a  pro- 
ductive class  period,  call  it  "supervised  study,"  "so- 
cialized recitation,"  "co-operative  learning,"  or  what 
not,  is  the  work  spirit.  That  classroom  exhibits  waste 
and  falls  short  under  this  criterion  just  to  the  extent 
that  any  member  or  members  of  that  group,  teacher 
included,  become  passive  recipients  or  mere  observers. 
The  most  active  kind  of  intellectual  work  may  be  silent 
reflection.  The  hum  of  industry  is  a  figure  of  speech. 
We  should  be  guarded  in  our  appraisal  of  activity. 
There  is  the  noise  of  industry  and  also  the  noise  of 
loose-running  unproductive  machines. 

Busy  working  pupils  have  no  time  for  the  machinery 
of  self-management.  They  may  be  brought  up  to  a 
level  of  activity  in  which  they  would  be  too  proud  of 


216  DIRECTING   STUDY 

their  capacity  to  work  in  complete  freedom  to  care  for 
the  "laws"  that  imply  distrust  of  themselves.  As  one 
chap  expressed  it:  "It's  folly  to  waste  time  in  talking 
about  what  we  ought  to  do  instead  of  doing  it."  If 
in  our  maturer  forms  of  associated  life  we  need  to  recog- 
nize and  appreciate  alternate  leaderships,  then  the  high 
school  should  lay  the  foundation  for  intelligent  action 
and  initiate  practices  that  will  develop  a  genius  for 
this  high  type  of  co-operation.  It  is  not  essential  that 
the  individual  shall  become  expert  in  the  line  of  his 
speciahst. 

All  machinery  of  control,  like  the  scaffolding  in  the 
building,  should  be  used  for  a  purpose  beyond  itself. 
The  majesty  of  plan  and  precision  appeals  to  the  spec- 
tator. System  is  necessary;  but  it  must  be  subordi- 
nated to  the  life  which  it  is  designed  to  serve.  System 
must  be  installed  underground  and  provision  made  for 
connecting  with  it,  when  we  desire  to  replenish  and 
rejuvenate  life,  by  tapping  the  life-giving  elements 
flowing  through  the  system. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  find  teachers  who  have  so  much 
discipline  that  they  have  no  order  at  all.  Pupils  are 
quick  to  recognize  and  appreciate  expert  and  artistic 
leadership.  The  classroom  activities  built  upon  the 
principles  of  an  associated  life  will  not  be  lacking  in 
opportunities  for  demonstrated  merit  in  the  exercise 
of  authority  and  guidance.  There  can  be  an  enormous 
waste  of  time  and  energy  in  playing  with  the  machinery 
and  formalism  of  self-government.  This  criticism  is 
not  directed  against  the  practice  of  having,  for  exam- 
ple, a  pupil  chairman ;  that  procedure  may  prove  highly 
beneficial  under  certain  conditions.  The  objection  is, 
rather,  that  any  such  external  marks  should   be  re- 


THE  SOCIAL  PRINCIPLE  217 

garded  as  essential  characteristics  of  a  productive 
type  of  directing  study. 

Self-Goveming  Capacity  of  Pupils. — And  yet,  one 
must  be  hopelessly  damned  with  a  provincial  academic 
mind,  one  must  be  a  confirmed  pessimist,  or  an  uncom- 
promising absolutist,  if  one  fails  to  appreciate  the  possi- 
bilities in  boys  and  girls  for  responsible  self-guidance 
and  initiative  in  carrying  forward  the  legitimate  work 
of  the  school.  It  is  a  strange  philosophy  supporting 
the  belief  and  the  practice  that  human  beings  may  be 
subjected  for  a  considerable  time  to  arbitrary  author- 
ity, almost  to  the  point  of  blind  acceptance  and  a 
Prussian  docility,  and  then  by  some  cataclysmic  event 
be  converted  into  self-governing,  free-operating,  re- 
sponsible personalities. 

A  word  from  an  optimistic  humanist  with  a  rare 
confidence  in  our  ability  to  direct  life  toward  an  ade- 
quate measure  of  its  possibility  is  wholesome  in  this 
connection.  "In  every  child  is  the  stuff  of  aristocracy. 
By  that  we  mean  the  high  potentiality  of  childhood 
for  uprise  or  downslide,  according  to  circumstance  and 
opportunity.  A  child's  mimetic  powers  are  tuned  to 
the  pitch  prevailing  in  whatever  concert-room  it  hap- 
pens to  be  an  occupant  of.  Its  creative  genius  moulds 
its  own  personality  on  the  model  of  whatever  perform- 
ances happen  to  be  staged  there."  Canon  Barrett's 
story  of  an  East  London  pageant  is  a  confirmation  of 
this  healthy  doctrine.  Aided  by  a  little  science,  much 
art,  and  a  sympathetic  evocation  of  the  creative  genius 
that  is  potent  in  every  normal  child,  even  the  slum 
children  demonstrated  that  they  could  "rise  and  awake 
to  the  call  of  a  great  heritage  as  if  to  the  manner 
bom."     In  the  pageant  it  is  related  that  a  call  came 


218  DIRECTING   STUDY 

that  all  under  fourteen  should  report  to  the  dressing- 
room.  In  it  a  voice  from  one  of  the  youngsters  was 
heard:  "I  can't  come  because  I'm  keeping  order  among 
a  dozen  kings  and  queens." 

The  success  of  high-school  boys  and  girls  in  various 
extra-curricular  activities,  as  well  as  in  outside  enter- 
prises in  the  workaday  world,  should  be  a  constant 
reminder  of  the  high  potentiality  of  youth.  The  upper 
limits  of  achievement  in  the  central  activities  of  the 
school  might  be  extended  almost  immeasurably  if 
something  of  the  same  dynamic  qualities  could  be 
injected  into  them  as  are  so  frequently  found  in  these 
other  lines  of  action.  Remarkable  capacities  for 
leadership,  industry,  initiative,  and  organization  are 
exhibited  in  athletics,  school  publications,  dramatic 
productions,  and  in  numerous  forms  of  industrial  and 
commercial  activities.  Not  infrequently  these  pupils 
who  are  making  the  most  satisfactory  progress  in 
their  studies  are  also  engaged  in  some  wage-earning 
occupation  or  in  the  extracurricular  activities  of  the 
school. 

It  is  an  obvious  fact,  also,  that  the  school  fails  to 
an  alarming  degree  in  mobilizing  the  full  energy  of  the 
pupils.  All  sorts  of  misdirected  energies  are  spent  in 
dissipating,  if  not  positively  harmful,  types  of  adoles- 
cent organizations.  The  school  conceived  as  a  social 
organization  in  its  full  significance  should  aim  to  pro- 
vide abundant  opportunity  for  the  full  and  complete 
exercise  of  these  powers  which  find  expression  in  un- 
profitable channels  outside  of  school  hours.  It  may 
be  possible  to  develop  a  shared  life  in  the  administra- 
tion of  the  curriculum  and  in  every  vital  aspect  of 
procedure  by  which  pupils  may  find  increasing  oppor- 


THE   SOCIAL  PRINCIPLE  219 

tunity  for  the  exercise  of  initiative,  responsibility,  and 
their  virile  powers.  The  looping  up  of  enthusiasms 
for  the  legitimate  functions  of  the  school  is  an  achieve- 
ment of  effective  teaching  and  administration.  When 
large  numbers  of  boys  and  girls  are  found  giving  their 
full  devotion  to  these  essential  matters,  with  a  healthy 
integration  of  all  secondary  affairs,  there  is  reason  to 
believe  that  the  school  is  making  adequate  provision 
for  the  care  of  youth. 

The  Social  View-Point. — In  a  much  deeper  and  a 
more  vital  sense  it  will  be  recognized  that  the  social 
view-point  raises  the  issue  of  democracy  vs.  anti- 
democracy.  If  the  individual  is  to  become  a  free- 
operating,  responsible  personality,  he  must  have  a 
voice  in  determining  the  ideals  of  work  and  a  share  in 
working  them  out.  Only  by  making  adequate  pro- 
vision for  a  shared  life  will  it  be  possible  to  make  the 
high  school  a  vital  social  organization — a  real  prac- 
tising ground  of  and  for  intelligent  democracy. 

The  educator  cannot  set  the  pupil  off  and  talk  about 
his  mental  machinery,  except  in  ahstracto.  Psychol- 
ogizing precedes  definite  formulations.  The  boy  is 
a  geologizing,  Latinizing,  civicizing,  and  every  other 
kind  of  an  izing  being  when  he  is  actually  incorporating 
the  spirit  of  the  studies  he  is  pursuing.  There  is  no 
meaning  attaching  to  the  curriculum  except  in  terms 
of  the  active  agents,  boys  and  girls  at  work — thinking, 
participating,  reacting  boys  and  girls.  In  fact,  the 
history  of  every  subject  in  the  curriculum  goes  right 
back  to  the  social  basis;  all  subjects  of  the  curriculum 
are  a  series  of  social  problems,  eminently  practical 
in  the  wider  sense.  Pragmatism  had  been  at  work  in 
education  long  before  it  became  an  ism.     Wherever 


220  DIRECTING  STUDY 

thinking  and  doing  have  been  emphasized  in  educa- 
tional practice  this  conception  has  been  illustrated. 

The  Implications  of  the  School  Conceived  as  a  Social 
Organization. — The  school,  particularly  the  public 
high  school  (junior  and  senior),  is  best  conceived  as  a 
social  organization,  a  social-service  agency  soon  to  be 
operated  in  the  interests  of  the  entire  body  of  the 
youth  of  the  nation.  The  high  controlling  purpose  of 
this  common  school  is  the  building  of  thinking,  socially 
minded,  responsible  individuals.  The  social  principle 
should  be  recognized  and  made  the  dynamic  in  every 
phase  of  school  life  including  the  central  activity  and 
the  dominant  aim  of  every  healthy,  functioning  school, 
namely,  the  intellectual  and  moral  emphasis  in  the 
classroom.  There  status  has  been  perpetuated;  it  must 
give  way  to  a  system  of  reacting  partnerships.  The 
habit,  also,  of  mothering  the  curriculum  with  a  pa- 
thetic devotion  to  the  curriculum  mores  has  made  it 
difficult  to  break  down  the  academic  fetich,  and  to 
eradicate  the  blight  of  the  specialist  and  the  error  of 
mere  informational  instruction.  The  academic  mind 
is  invaluable  for  the  research  type  for  truth. 

The  curriculum  is  no  longer  a  sacred  thing,  a  finality 
to  be  accepted  blindly  or  a  body  of  sanctions  to  be 
authoritatively  administered.  In  spite  of  much  that  is 
haphazard  and  chaotic  in  our  present  practices,  the  cur- 
riculum is  coming  to  be  regarded  as  an  opportunity  for 
the  exercise  of  discretion  in  choosing.  Just  now  certain 
groups  of  subjects  may  be  regarded  as  "prescribed 
temptations."  No  subject  of  the  curriculum  should  be 
arbitrarily  and  dogmatically  required  any  longer.  This 
is  not  the  occasion  to  go  into  an  elaborate  discussion 
of  this  thesis;  the  upshot  of  the  matter  in  our  discussion 


THE   SOCIAL  PRINCIPLE  221 

is  that  the  pupil  and  the  curriculum  should  not  be 
conceived  as  two  separate  ideas  to  be  brought  to- 
gether by  some  temporary  compromise  or  happy  me- 
chanical addition  of  these  two,  often  obstinate,  ideas. 
The  new  cafeteria  method  of  handling  the  situation 
suggests  two  desperately  significant  factors:  (i)  a 
cafeteria  scientifically  constructed;  (2)  an  individual 
educated  in  the  intelligent  exercise  of  choice.  Gradu- 
ally the  pupil  should  be  guided  toward  a  free  and 
ordered  and  responsible  selection  of  courses.  By  the 
time  the  pupil  enters  upon  the  last  two  years  of  the 
secondary  school  he  should  be  able  to  elect  with  a  high 
degree  of  validity  and  value  the  studies  he  desires  to 
pursue.  He  will  soon  be  thrown  on  his  own  resources 
in  a  world  in  which  he  must  take  the  responsibility  for 
his  new  adventure.  One  clear  aim  of  education  is  to 
assist  each  individual  in  becoming  an  excellent  judge 
of  his  own  development  of  democratic  responsibilities. 
In  the  daily  negotiation  of  the  curriculum  the  term 
directing  study  is  used  to  describe  a  procedure  in  which 
the  social  principle  is  constantly  applied.  As  con- 
ceived in  this  discussion  the  entire  range  of  activities 
of  the  school  should  be  developed  within  a  programme 
of  participating  interests.  Values  exist  only  in  terms 
of  the  active  and  vital  self-expression  of  individuals. 
The  pupil  who  fails  to  yield  to  the  "temptations  to 
excellence"  in  an  adequate  school  denies  himself  the 
freedom  that  comes  through  work;  he  may,  through' 
some  spurious  relinquishment,  fail  utterly  to  incor- 
porate the  spirit  of  the  school.  Only  as  the  individual 
enters  with  whole-hearted  purposefulness  into  the 
activities  and  spirit  of  the  institution,  now  conceived 
as  an  instrument  in  which  power  is  to  be  exercised  and 


222  DIRECTING  STUDY 

varied  at  the  discretion  of  its  active  members,  will  it 
be  possible  to  exemplify  in  him  the  full  significance 
of  the  social  ideal. 

The  second  criterion  of  directing  study  in  this  thesis 
is  the  substitution  of  the  social  ideal  for  the  exclusive 
knowledge  ideal.  This  shift  of  emphasis  is  deemed 
essential  in  the  development  of  the  work  spirit.  These 
two  principles  have  already  been  utilized  in  carrying 
this  discussion  thus  far  through  a  rather  complex  maze 
of  destructive  and  constructive  criticism.  There  would 
be  no  dissenting  opinion  from  the  general  proposition 
of  the  desirability  of  reinstating  the  day  when  it  is 
good  form  for  a  boy  to  admit  that  he  takes  an  interest 
in  thought,  and  also  of  initiating  any  sound  procedure 
that  will  so  broaden  the  basis  of  education  that  the 
term  worker  shall  become  a  title  of  honor  bestowed 
upon  craftsmanship  of  mind  and  hand  alike.  Any 
procedure  should  be  welcomed  and  indorsed,  at  least 
tentatively,  that  carries  a  hope  of  developing  strong 
temptations  to  excellence  and  a  disinterested  love  of 
mastery  as  opposed  to  an  artificial  interest  *'for  the 
sake  of  the  loaves  and  fishes." 

Informational  Instruction  and  Formalism. — If  the 
knowledge  ideal  is  held  to  be  an  end  in  itself  and  learn- 
ing is  carried  on  for  the  sake  of  learning  or  training 
for  the  sake  of  the  state,  the  danger  lies  in  regarding 
the  individual  as  an  instrument  to  be  fashioned  for 
ulterior  ends.  The  indoctrination  of  ideas  may  super- 
sede all  conceptions  of  self-expression.  The  method 
of  imparting  information  gains  pre-eminence  in  this 
emphasis.  Pupils  are  to  be  moulded,  trained,  and  in- 
structed. This  theory  may  be  developed  so  far  as  to 
establish  a  body  of  accepted  information  and  tradi- 


THE  SOCIAL  PRINCIPLE  223 

tion,  a  Kultur,  which  is  conceived  in  the  nature  of 
capital  to  be  loaned  to  the  citizen  in  the  making.  Pa- 
triotic and  efficient  citizens  can  be  developed  through 
a  national  programme  of  education  vigorously  con- 
ducted by  a  body  of  trained  teachers,  and  yet  miss 
the  essential  matter  in  educating  the  individual  for 
that  freedom  which  comes  through  the  full  and  com- 
plete release  of  his  potentialities.  The  instructional 
ideal  lends  itself  to  rigid  and  formal  methods.  So 
much  subject-matter  is  to  be  covered  in  a  given  period; 
the  theory  of  imparting  information  promotes  habits 
of  orderly  presentation.  Attention  is  centred  in  the 
principles  of  informational  instruction  rather  than  in 
the  problems  of  the  learner.  A  recognition  of  the  so- 
cial principle  would  disturb  the  order  and  sequence, 
the  plans  and  methods  set  forth  in  the  didactic  treat- 
ment of  courses  of  instruction  controlled  by  the  in- 
structional ideal. 

A  mechanical  approach  is  illustrated  in  the  five 
formal  steps — preparation,  presentation,  comparison^ 
generalization,  application.  The  ardent  disciple  of 
Herbart  regards  these  steps  as  a  general  method  ap- 
plicable to  any  subject  in  any  stage  of  education.  The 
attempt  is  made  to  harness  the  lesson  in  this  elaborate 
form  on  the  assumption  that  such  is  the  order  of  the 
learner's  progress  in  acquiring  information  or  solving 
problems.  For  the  Herbartian  this  cut-and-dried 
formula  is  applicable  to  all  sorts  of  materials  and  con- 
ditions. Teachers  have  been  trained  to  use  the  five 
steps,  and  model  lessons  have  been  devised  to  illus- 
trate each  step  in  logical  sequence.  Perhaps  it  is  fair 
to  say  that  teachers  have  found  in  this  plan  a  means 
of  gripping  their  work  in  a  clearer  manner  than  has 


224  DIRECTING  STUDY 

been  possible  by  the  more  direct  and  flexible  methods. 
From  the  learner's  side,  however,  it  seems  to  be  a 
mechanical  method,  hardly  applicable  to  the  pursuit 
of  the  daily  lesson. 

In  practice  a  disproportionate  emphasis  is  given  the 
first  and  second  steps.  Energy  is  usually  exhausted 
before  generalization  and  application  are  reached. 
Another  defect,  in  general,  is  the  failure  to  start  with 
a  problem  which  is  real  to  the  pupil  and  in  which  there 
is  projected,  at  least,  a  way  of  thinking.  Often  the 
first  steps  are  carried  out  in  a  formal,  external,  and 
wholly  artificial  manner  in  which  the  pupil  is  a  passive 
agent  merely  following  directions  and  accumulating 
information  without  purposive  action. 

In  all  such  formal  methods,  as  the  five  steps,  the 
tendency  is  to  assert  the  primacy  of  subject-matter. 
This,  in  fact,  is  the  crux  of  the  whole  matter  in  placing 
the  emphasis  on  the  knowledge  ideal.  Informational 
instruction  occupies  the  centre  of  attention.  Too 
often  real  thinking  becomes  quite  incidental  to  the 
acquisition  of  ready-made  information. 

By  shifting  the  emphasis  to  the  social  principle,  in- 
formation is  utilized  in  the  promotion  of  thinking  in 
terms  of  some  problem  or  organizing  principle.  At 
all  events,  this  is  the  projected  ideal.  Any  pupil  work- 
ing forward  in  a  co-operative  challenge  or  on  his  in- 
dividual topic  is  not  required  to  wait  on  certain  mat- 
ters of  presentation  before  gripping  the  significance  of 
the  general  concept  of  the  problem  in  hand,  nor  is 
any  one  held  back  in  a  formal  march  through  four 
steps  before  making  the  step  of  application.  It  may 
be  the  last  step  which  gives  meaning  to  the  whole  chal- 
lenge or  topic,  and,  therefore,  not  a  bad  step  to  take  first. 


THE  SOCIAL  PRINCIPLE  225 

To  require  a  class  of  some  thirty  pupils  to  advance 
in  the  order  laid  down  in  formal  methods  presupposes 
a  regimental  uniformity  that  does  not  exist.  The 
working  group  discloses  not  a  single  method  but  many 
ways  of  making  progress.  One  pupil,  for  example, 
glances  hastily  at  some  illustrative  material  in  the 
explanation  of  a  new  topic  (two  or  three  pages  in  fac- 
toring) and  goes  forward  in  the  task  of  solving  exer- 
cises, gaining  a  sense  of  mastery  by  "doing  the  sums," 
referring  to  the  introductory  and  explanatory  matter 
as  he  finds  use  for  it;  another  pupil  agonizes  with  pains- 
taking accuracy  over  the  explanatory  page,  trying  to 
understand  the  step  of  presentation  before  advancing 
to  the  vital  situation.  On  the  whole,  the  procedure 
of  the  former  pupil  is  to  be  preferred.  The  introduc- 
tory chapter  of  a  book  is  not  always  written  first. 

In  working  up  a  comprehensive  topic  or  challenge, 
requiring,  say,  two  weeks  or  more,  some  general  scheme, 
such  as  the  five  formal  steps,  may  be  employed  to  ad- 
vantage. Of  course  the  apprehension  of  a  real  problem 
should  be  included  as  well  as  some  way  (hypothesis) 
of  thinking  it  through.  This  tentative  and  projected 
way  of  handling  the  problem  set  for  solution  is  essential 
to  any  productive  thinking.  Some  general  scheme  is 
no  doubt  valid  and  valuable.  In  any  formulated 
account  of  developing  thought  there  is  or  ought  to  be 
the  occurrence  of  a  problem  or  a  puzzling  situation 
for  the  pupil. 

In  these  accounts  "there  is  the  sequence  of  {i)  spe- 
cific facts  and  events,  {ii)  ideas  and  reasonings,  and 
{in)  application  of  their  result  to  specific  acts.  In 
each  case  the  movement  is  inductive-deductive.^*  *  One 
*  Dewey,  How  We  Think,  p.  203. 


226  DIRECTING  STUDY 

criticism  of  formal  methods  is  that  the  attempt  seems 
to  be  to  conceive  the  movement  of  thought  as  being 
either  wholly  inductive  or  deductive.  The  separation 
is  unfortunate.  The  thought  movement  is  one  of 
integrating  analysis  and  synthesis  functionally  bound 
up  in  a  deeper  unity  than  either  alone  suggests. 

The  quarrel  we  have  with  the  disciples  of  Herbart 
lies  in  the  apparent  fact  of  their  insistence  upon  a 
closed  and  authoritative  method.  It  would  seem,  at 
times,  that  if  one  wants  to  know  what  to  teach,  when 
to  teach  it,  and  how  to  teach  it,  all  one  needs  to  do  is 
to  ask  them  and  they  are  prepared  to  reveal  it  all  in 
advance  of  the  journey.  The  subject-matter  is  defi- 
nitely laid  out  and  the  ready-made  methods  can  be 
furnished.  The  indolent  formalist  is  strongly  tempted  to 
accept  all  these  accredited  forms  and  to  administer  his 
work  under  the  control  of  arbitrary  standards  to  the  utter 
neglect  of  that  continuous  moral  analysis  which  is  im- 
perative in  the  application  of  the  social  principle  to  edu- 
cational procedures. 

Life  situations  do  not  come  to  us  gummed  and 
labelled  and  arranged  in  that  logical  order  presupposed 
in  the  five  formal  steps.  A  young  man  selecting  his 
bride  would  encounter  serious  difficulties  if  he  pro- 
ceeded in  the  order  of  preparation,  presentation,  com- 
parison, generalization,  application.  He  would  prob- 
ably break  down  somewhere  in  the  third  step — the 
step,  by  the  way,  which  marks  the  degree  of  progress 
in  this  method,  as  a  rule,  in  the  schoolroom. 

The  power  to  generalize  experience  and  the  capacity 
to  make  application  in  any  vital  sense  are  sadly  neg- 
lected in  our  pedagogical  practices.  Of  preparation 
there  is  no  end — reviews,  ambushing  the  facts,  much 


THE  SOCIAL  PRINCIPLE  227 

ado  in  getting  ready  to  do  something.  Of  presenta- 
tion we  have  an  enormous  activity  and  display — ex- 
planations, diagrams,  pictures,  rules,  stereopticons,  and 
moving  pictures,  all  of  which  may  be  used  to  promote 
absorption  of  facts  or  as  a  splendid  aid  in  the  develop- 
ment of  clear  and  economical  thinking. 

The  time  devoted  to  comparison,  that  is,  the  time 
actually  devoted  to  an  examination  of  data  for  the 
explicit  purpose  of  drawing  independent  conclusions, 
is  scant  indeed.  If,  however,  the  full  significance  of 
all  five  steps  could  be  attained,  there  would  still  be 
much  to  give  us  pause.  Any  system  or  methodology 
that  becomes  rigid  and  inflexible  deletes  automati- 
cally the  responsibility  for  keeping  up  a  continuous 
moral  analysis. 

Learning  Practical  Things  Out  of  School. — In  learn- 
ing practical  matters  there  is  no  elaborate  formalism 
superimposed  in  the  nature  of  indirect  and  apparently 
unrelated  steps.  Means  and  ends  are  organically 
integrated  in  a  way  that  tends  to  obliterate  distinctions 
between  academic  or  theoretical  propositions  and  use- 
ful objectives.  It  is  not,  however,  a  valid  argument 
to  maintain  the  thesis  that  all  educational  practices 
can  be  directly  related  to  the  immediately  useful. 
One  must  learn  to  fiddle  before  playing  in  the  orchestra. 
The  difiiculty  in  dealing  with  large  areas  of  education 
lies  in  the  fact  that  possible  remote  values  must  be 
considered.  In  other  words,  it  is  futile  to  urge  that 
all  aspects  of  education  can  be  reduced  to  the  directly 
practical  or  vocational  basis. 

Some  work  of  the  school  is  definitely  instrumental; 
dividends  are  deferred.  Practice,  also,  in  the  manipu- 
lation of  what  may  be  called  tools  of  training  is  essen- 


228  DIRECTING  STUDY 

tial.  The  theory  of  education  as  preparation  intrudes 
itself  constantly.  In  spite  of  this  tendency,  however, 
it  is  possible  to  introduce  the  element  of  realness  even 
in  those  abstract  categories  which  occupy  the  centre 
of  attention  in  so  many  courses  of  instruction.  Simply 
because  remote  interests  are  involved  is  no  logical 
reason  for  depreciating  the  value  of  any  course  or 
part  of  it.  Hence  no  illusion  is  entertained  about 
making  a  curriculum  in  which  just  practical  "proj- 
ects" will  appear.  An  illustration  in  learning  some 
every-day  problem  is  suggested  only  for  purposes  of 
departure. 

If  the  boy  is  confronted  with  the  mastery  of  the 
automobile  (mastery  in  the  sense  of  being  able  to  use 
the  machine  and  to  know  what  to  do  in  the  emergencies 
that  arise  in  its  use),  the  method  of  learning  is  direct 
and  constantly  tied  up  with  the  step  of  application. 
There  is  no  disposition  to  spend  several  lessons  on  the 
origin  and  development  of  wheels  and  vehicles  and 
applications  of  power.  The  step  of  preparation  is  a 
short  one  indeed  for  the  boy  keen  to  try  his  hand  at 
the  wheel.  There  is  no  time-consuming  programme 
of  explanation  of  vital  parts,  comparison  of  machines, 
and  the  slow  and  steady  process  of  building  the  auto- 
mobile concept  prior  to  a  real  experience  in  driving 
the  machine. 

The  academic  way  postpones  the  interesting  step 
(application)  to  a  time  so  far  ahead  that  the  boy  would 
lose  interest  in  the  course.  The  learning  of  the  auto- 
mobile in  the  practical  way  appeals  to  the  learner  be- 
cause a  sense  of  mastery  is  quickly  attained.  There 
is  something  doing,  as  we  say,  immediately,  and  the 
results  of  one's  efforts  are  strikingly  revealed  at  every 
stage  in  the  learning  process. 


THE  SOCIAL  PRINCIPLE  229 

All  these  other  fine  "lessons"  may  be  looped  up  in 
a  genuine  realization  after  gripping  the  significance  of 
a  real  boy  plus  a  real  automobile  experience.  Inte- 
grated with  that  item  of  significance  an  extended  course 
of  instruction  may  be  built  around  the  automobile, 
every  "lesson"  of  which  might  be  so  conducted  as  to 
arouse  curiosity  and  stimulate  interest.  All  that  may 
be  desired  in  the  historic  development  of  vehicles  and 
in  the  mathematical  desiderata  utilized  in  constructing 
the  engines  and  models,  etc.,  could  be  related  to  a 
going  concern. 

One  may  indulge  the  fancy  that  studies  in  the  school 
might  be  modified  in  the  direction  suggested  in  this 
somewhat  idealized  automobile  experience.  The  arbi- 
trary separation  between  abstract  categories  and  con- 
crete relations  is  disappearing.  Perhaps  the  termi- 
nology itself  is  unfortunate.  The  essential  matter  is 
to  grip  the  significance  and  meaning  of  experience  in 
the  solution  of  vital  problems. 

The  general  movement  to  indicate  the  practical 
significance  of  many  courses  of  instruction,  formerly 
pursued  for  alleged  disciplinary  ends,  is  a  concession 
to  modern  pragmatism.  Every  effort  is  exerted  to 
make  vital  connections  with  our  modern  life  in  the 
study  of  Latin,  ancient  history,  botany,  algebra,  chem- 
istry, geometry,  etc.  The  hope  of  starting  in  the  quest 
for  truth  or  mastery  with  some  problem  dated  in  the 
present  is  expressed  in  all  sorts  of  attempts  to  orient 
the  pupil  to  the  values  of  the  practical  studies  laid  out 
in  the  curriculum. 

Much  has  been  proposed  in  the  desire  to  start  the 
study  of  history  with  problems  of  immediate  interest 
and  to  work  back  into  the  antecedents  by  finding  how 
this  and  that  problem  of  the  present  developed.     The 


230  DIRECTING  STUDY 

question  turns  upon  the  chronological  order  of  events. 
But  whether  some  radical  innovation  is  introduced  or 
the  old  method  is  pursued,  the  interesting  fact  is  that 
in  either  case  there  is  a  deliberate  effort  being  made  to 
show  the  relation  of  the  past  to  our  present  and  future 
problems. 

In  the  study  of  Latin  the  pupil  is  constantly  re- 
minded of  the  relation  of  his  work  to  his  vernacular. 
It  would  be  exceedingly  difficult  to  relate  all  the  work 
of  the  school  to  our  immediate  life.  And,  furthermore, 
it  is  a  fundamental  fallacy  to  assume  that  pupils  are 
not  interested  or,  better,  that  they  may  not  become 
intensely  interested  in  things  remote  from  present-day 
needs  or  in  things  abstract.  By  rewarding  achieve- 
ment and  effort  in  learning  or  mastering  forms  or  exer- 
cises that  could  have  no  conceivable  significance  be- 
yond the  mere  sense  of  accomplishment,  many  pupils 
are  induced  to  respond  with  abounding  enthusiasm. 
This  is  not  an  argument  for  the  retention  of  useless 
material  in  the  curriculum,  not  stopping  here  to  define 
what  is  useless — a  very  difficult  job,  by  the  way. 

Evils  of  Uniformity  and  Remedies. — The  knowledge 
ideal  and  mechanical  methods  have  developed  the 
lock-step  in  education.  Progressive  educators  are 
seeking  ways  of  obviating  a  system  characterized  by 
a  practice  of  in-together,  on-together,  all-together, 
out-together.  The  effect  of  uniformity  is  frequently 
expressed  in  the  attempt  to  reduce  all  members  of  the 
class  to  some  level  of  group  average  or  group  medi- 
ocrity. The  evils  of  the  system  are  everywhere  com- 
ing to  be  recognized.  The  remedies,  for  the  most  part, 
fail  to  take  into  account  the  ideals  which  produce  the 
system  itself. 


THE  SOCIAL  PRINCIPLE  231 

The  proposition  to  bring  together  the  supernormal 
pupils  of  a  given  grade  or  mental  age  is  not  only  an 
impractical  administrative  undertaking,  but  unde- 
sirable from  the  One-from-Many  view-point  of  our 
social  organization,  interpreted  in  terms  of  alternate 
leaderships  and  interdependent  relationships.  It  is  a 
proposition,  too,  that  seems  to  allege  that  man  is  al- 
ready, instead  of  a  sturdy  facing  of  the  doctrine  that 
"Man  is  not,  until  he  becomes J^  Moreover,  in  all  the 
proposed  schemes  for  assembling  pupils  of  alleged 
homogeneous  ability,  the  errors  of  the  instructional 
ideal  may  be  perpetuated.  An  accelerant  supernormal 
section  may  be  exposed  swiftly  to  all  the  errors  in  the 
doctrine  and  practices  which  are  vigorously  con- 
demned. 

It  wiU  be  readily  granted  that  some  modification 
of  practice  which  aims  to  overcome  the  disadvantages 
of  uniformity  is  desirable.  Our  problem  in  this  dis- 
cussion, it  will  be  remembered,  is  that  of  meeting  more 
adequately  the  exigent  demands  of  the  modem  school, 
as  it  is  at  present  constituted,  than  is  possible  under 
the  recitation  system.  No  doubt  a  more  adequate 
and  scientific  practice  of  placement  of  pupils  will  be 
developed  than  that  which  now  obtains.  But  to-day 
teachers  are  confronted  with  the  task  of  educating 
boys  and  girls  as  they  are  assigned  under  the  prevail- 
ing sanctions.  It  is  not  at  all  improbable  that  a  deeper 
scientific  study  of  the  problem  of  placement  may  not 
bring  together  pupils  of  greater  range  in  chronological 
ages  than  we  now  find.  In  non-sequential  courses 
there  may  be  economies  in  the  congregation  of  pupils 
of  comparatively  marked  differences  in  experience  and 
age. 


232  DIRECTING  STUDY 

At  all  events,  whatever  programme  is  adopted  in 
ascertaining  the  opportune  time  for  some  thirty  po- 
tential geometricians,  political  scientists,  poets,  et 
cetera,  to  congregate  for  the  study  of  geometry,  civics, 
"The  Village  Blacksmith,"  or  almost  any  other  study 
within  the  approximate  range  of  these  thirty  candi- 
dates, a  tremendous  gain  will  be  made  if  it  is  perceived 
clearly  that  thirty  individuals  are  there.  Thirty  in- 
dividuals are  there  in  no  sense  equal  in  any  immediate 
finite  attainment,  and,  what  is  more  to  the  point,  they 
should  not  be  regarded  as  so  many  units  to  be  rounded 
out  toward  any  conceivable  sort  of  uniformity.  Really, 
under  the  procedure  advocated  in  this  interpretation 
of  directing  study  every  open  avenue  of  opportunity 
should  be  utilized  for  greater  and  more  penetrating 
differences  in  this  group  of  thirty  individuals  as  they 
progress  in  the  course. 

The  New  School. — If  this  challenge  is  accepted, 
then  it  follows  that  the  set-lesson  (uniform)  assign- 
ment, the  minimum-essential-co«/ew/  doctrine,  and  all 
the  progeny  of  these  ideas  must  go.  The  lesson-hear- 
ing school  must  go.  The  recitation,  belonging  to  an 
age  when  books  were  few  and  schools  were  established 
to  impart  knowledge  and  to  test  the  student's  capacity 
to  absorb  and  store  up  unrelated  information,  it,  too, 
must  go.  Collective  or  mass  teaching  which  aims  at 
a  mythical  average  pupil,  defended  because  it  is  easy 
or  because  provision  for  individuality  would  be  ex- 
ceedingly difficult  to  realize,  that  too  must  surely  go. 

That  school  to  be  a  good  school  in  the  immediate 
future  will  undertake  to  develop  in  its  pupils  an  ever- 
growing personal  efficiency  in  using  stored-up  subject- 
matter  to  approach  new  and  unexpected  situations 


THE  SOCIAL  PRINCIPLE  233 

and  to  solve  new  problems.  Pupils  will  be  dealt  with 
as  individuals;  no  pupil  will  be  held  back  because 
others  are  developing  more  slowly  than  he,  and  no 
one  will  be  pushed  forward  beyond  his  capacity  merely 
because  others  are  more  rapid  in  developing  power. 
The  entire  school  procedure  will  be  flexible,  not  rigid; 
it  will  encourage  individuality,  self-mastery,  initiative, 
and  personal  responsibility. 

Set  lessons,  definitely  prescribing  the  upper  limit  of 
accomplishment  of  the  good  pupil,  will  rarely  be  given. 
The  teacher  will  become  the  director  of  activities; 
his  assignments,  often  arrived  at  in  consultation  with 
the  class,  determine  the  direction  in  which  the  group 
shall  work,  but  do  not  prescribe  the  amount  of  ac- 
complishment in  that  general  direction  which  each 
pupil  must,  or  may,  make. 

Pupils  who  excel  in  accomplishment  will  be  rewarded 
by  increased  opportunities  and  responsibilities;  fre- 
quently they  will  be  promoted  for  a  time  to  assist  the 
teacher  in  directing  the  activities  of  the  class. 

Home  study  will  usually  not  be  sharply  distinguished 
from  classroom  activities;  in  general  the  class  hour 
will  be  spent  in  working  ahead,  not  in  reviewing,  sum- 
marizing, or  reciting  upon  subject-matter  which  has 
been  studied  out  of  school.  Home  work  will  be  ordi- 
narily of  the  nature  of  unfinished  business;  that  is, 
it  will  complete,  supplement,  expand,  and  verify  what 
has  been  begun  under  the  teacher's  guidance  within 
the  class  group. 

This  practice  of  directing  study  will  tend,  it  is  be- 
lieved, to  develop  in  each  pupil  the  most  effective 
habits  of  attention,  concentration,  and  achievement 
which  he  is  capable  of  acquiring;   it  will  develop  his 


234  DIRECTING  STUDY 

initiative  because  he  must  begin  his  undertaking  with- 
out depending  upon  the  initiative  of  another  for  his 
ideas  or  for  his  impulse  to  start;  the  teacher,  an  ex- 
pert in  education,  will  be  in  general  much  better  quali- 
fied than  a  parent  to  judge  exactly  what  assistance 
may  most  profitably  be  given  a  pupil  in  the  study  of 
his  lessons.  The  school  will  aim  to  direct  its  pupils 
through  subject-matter  to  power.  The  curriculum  and 
the  expert  activities  of  its  teachers  will  be  regarded 
as  means  to  an  end;  they  will  be  conceived  as  tools 
for  the  fashioning  of  self-active,  responsible  young 
people.  The  endeavor  will  be  to  determine  by  prac- 
tical application  the  best  possible  choice  of  subject- 
matter  and  the  most  serviceable  ways  of  teaching  and 
of  school  administration  to  further  the  development  of 
its  pupils.  Nothing  will  be  retained  merely  because  it 
is  traditional;  nothing  will  be  discarded  merely  because 
it  is  unfashionable;  an  earnest  attempt  will  be  made  to 
be  reasonably  conservative  and  to  keep  free  from  edu- 
cational fads.  There  will  be  no  disposition  to  conduct 
experimentation  without  regard  to  the  immediate  wel- 
fare of  the  pupils  involved. 

If  the  choice  is  forced  between  adventure  and  effi- 
ciency there  can  be  no  doubt  in  the  defense  of  this 
thesis  as  to  which  is  to  be  preferred.  If  either  must  be 
sacrificed,  it  will  be  the  latter.  Yet  one  may  argue 
very  properly  that  the  eternal  problem  of  our  de- 
mocracy is  "Can  Democracy  be  Organized?"  with- 
out destroying  personal  initiative  and  deleting  the  spirit 
of  adventure. 

Every  Class  a  Prospecting  Party. — We  have  sug- 
gested the  colorful  figure  that  our  class  might  be  organ- 
ized as  a  prospecting  party  with  the  leadership  of  a 


THE  SOCIAL  PRINCIPLE  235 

teacher  as  consulting  expert.  All  members  of  the  group 
are  to  become  prospectors.  No  one  is  to  be  an  ever- 
lasting minor,  an  unthinking  follower.  The  canyon  up 
which  the  whole  party  will  enter  to-day  will  ordinarily 
be  sign-posted  by  the  teacher;  although  in  this  a  fine 
sense  of  directing  energy  will  obviate  dogmatism  and 
officiousness.  In  a  vital  way  provision  will  be  made  for 
mutuality  in  choosing  at  the  "fork  of  the  road."  The 
party  will  not  have  any  camp-followers. 

That  Emersonian  quality  of  self-respect  will  be  cul- 
tivated in  every  person  in  this  adventure.  The  director 
of  activities,  the  new  teacher,  will  no  doubt  be  familiar 
with  the  possibilities  for  discovery  of  values  up  these 
canyons.  There  will  be  something  to  do  beyond  an 
examination  of  the  debris  and  the  tailings  left  by  pre- 
vious prospectors.  Each  individual  will  be  stimulated 
and  guided  in  the  adventure  in  a  manner  that  will 
enable  him  to  survey  and  dig  to  some  extent  on  his 
own  account.  No  one  will  be  allowed  to  develop  by 
himself  at  the  hazard  of  indolence. 

All  are  true  sportsmen  and  equal  in  that  respect. 
Each  may  work  in  the  hope  of  bringing  to  the  dis- 
cussion about  the  camp-fire  some  personal  experience 
gained  in  the  adventure,  some  nugget  discovered  by 
himself,  some  promising  lead  for  further  investigation. 
In  the  discussion  each  will  have  an  opportunity  to 
contribute  something,  no  matter  how  insignificant  in 
itself,  that  no  one  else  has  discovered.  The  basis  is 
laid  here  for  the  cultivation  of  a  genuine  self-respect. 

There  is  a  possible  escape  from  a  flat  uniformity. 
No  healthy  boy  enjoys  doing  his  work  by  proxy.  He 
wants  to  get  into  the  game  on  his  level.  Listening  in  a 
situation  in  which  there  is  a  chance  for   the   cross- 


236  DIRECTING  STUDY 

fertilization  of  ideas  elevates  and  dignifies  the  pro- 
cedure by  recognizing  the  factors  employed  in  stimu- 
lating and  challenging  conversation.  The  importance 
of  making  provision  for  originality,  even  in  so  small  a 
measure  as  making  it  possible  for  any  pupil  to  contrib- 
ute a  salient  brute  fact  to  the  discussion  not  thought 
of  by  any  other  member  of  the  group,  can  hardly 
be  overestimated. 

A  Moral  Basis  of  Methodology. — In  general,  the 
teacher  is  expected  to  know  what  is  best  for  his  pupils. 
The  disposition,  however,  to  become  a  kind  of  brother's 
keeper  in  the  processes  of  control  and  direction  is  often 
tacitly  accepted  and  encouraged.  It  is  a  common 
practice  to  stand  the  other  fellows  up  and  shoot  at 
them  with  our  benevolence.  A  certain  form  of  Neo- 
Puritanism  promotes  the  view  that  we  know  what  is 
needed  for  the  other  fellow.  Hence  "  to  hold  the  class  " 
is  regarded  as  a  fundamental  qualification  of  the  school- 
master. The  external  form  of  discipline  is  made  the 
basic  tenet  in  the  doctrine  that  "Order  is  heaven's 
first  law." 

Carried  to  its  logical  conclusion  state  absolutism  de- 
nies the  worth  of  the  individual  and  refuses  to  concern 
itself  with  the  rights  and  obligations  of  the  individual 
as  a  free  agent.  In  the  extreme  form  this  absolutism 
undertakes  to  set  the  appointed  lesson,  the  appointed 
hour,  the  appointed  method  in  advance  of  the  journey. 
The  alternative  is  not  idle  freedom  or  any  species  of 
determined  ignorance  or  the  anarchy  of  tolerance. 
We  have  already  pointed  out  the  path  to  freedom  in 
work.  The  ability  of  a  class  to  hold  itself  may  be  a 
goal  worth  striving  for.  Yet,  our  position  is  rather  a 
deliberate  effort  to  develop  the  self-active,  co-operative, 


THE  SOCIAL  PRINCIPLE  237 

responsible  individual  in  a  shared  leadership  in  which 
the  teacher  is  able  to  direct  energy  to  fruitful  ends. 
The  programme  is  not  laid  down  with  precision. 

The  subject-matter  of  morals  is  concerned  with  the 
"deed-to-be-done."  When  confronted  with  the  eternal 
pragmatic  question  "What  am  I  to  do  next?"  the  thing 
to  be  done  is  never  an  exact  copy  of  what  has  been 
done.  All  that  has  been  done  must  be  translated  from 
the  indicative  into  the  imperative  in  facing  a  moral 
situation. 

The  practice  of  morality  has  its  locus  in  choice. 
"What  am  I  to  do  next?"  in  this  and  that  situation 
in  meeting  the  endless  panorama  of  events  in  teaching 
involves  the  hazard  of  adventure.  The  only  escape 
from  this  responsibility  is  to  accept  a  finished  abso- 
lutism and  to  superimpose  a  kind  of  intellectual  goose- 
step  without  regard  to  the  effect  upon  those  for  whom 
the  prescription  is  made. 

A  curious  inversion  of  the  notion  of  freedom  may  be 
wrought  through  a  willing  acceptance  of  obedience  and 
discipline.  A  whole  nation  may  be  indoctrinated 
through  education  with  a  sense  of  its  own  superiority 
and  the  superior  qualities  of  its  own  citizens.  The 
ideal  of  organization  may  be  extended  and  refined  until 
the  majesty  of  plan  and  precision  becomes  a  fetich. 
The  psychology  of  unthinking  obedience  and  of  loyalty 
to  the  ideal  of  organization  is  both  primitive  and  dan- 
gerous. All  this  follows  upon  the  acceptance  of  society 
as  a  machine  existing  for  some  material  purpose.  In 
one  direction  the  emphasis  in  education  is  to  discover 
what  the  individual  is  good  for  and  then  to  train  him  for 
some  part  in  the  machine. 

In  direct  antithesis  to  this  mechanical  theory  of  edu- 


238  DIRECTING  STUDY 

cation  we  have  the  conception  of  society  as  a  living 
thing.  The  individual  must  discover  the  purpose  of 
his  own  life  in  an  association  of  human  beings.  Every 
human  being  in  the  conception  of  society  as  a  living 
thing  must  be  free  to  become  an  excellent  judge  of  his 
own  developing  powers  and  his  own  opportunities. 
This  view  is  the  democratic  theory  of  society. 

One  may  store  up  vast  quantities  of  ancient  lore  and 
have  at  command  the  how,  the  when,  and  the  why  and 
the  that  of  every  previous  circumstance  and  yet  be  as 
ignorant  as  Balaam's  proverbial  ass  before  the  chal- 
lenge ^^What  am  I  to  do  next?''  in  a  human  situation. 
The  last  great  adventure  may  be  charted  and  every 
current  and  shift  of  wind  annotated  on  the  margin  and 
in  foot-note,  and  yet  leave  one  stuck  in  the  mire  of 
irresolution  unless  there  is  a  moral  optimism,  a  moral 
character  that  enables  one  to  sail  out  in  changing, 
uncharted  seas  of  human  conduct,  or  do  the  simplest 
next  thing,  namely,  to  choose  to  eat  a  biscuit  or  to 
make  the  next  move  in  the  game  of  checkers. 

The  next  step  is  not  taken  by  reproducing  a  copy  of 
the  previous  motion.  One  may  keep  all  the  laws,  com- 
mit no  crimes,  and  yet  the  heroic  deed  or  the  chivalric 
act  may  never  occur. 

The  practising  ground  for  morality  is  developed,  not 
by  exact  formulation,  not  by  exact  rules  of  the  past 
applied  as  copy,  but  by  taking  the  moral  risk  in  the 
adventure  that  calls  for  choice  and  decision.  It  is  for 
this  reason  that  devices  for  teaching  are  rarely  negoti- 
able. It  is  for  this  reason  that  "methods"  of  teaching 
have  been  held  in  contempt  by  scholarly  men.  The 
adaptation  of  devices  is  to  be  encouraged.  Whenever 
the  method  is  reconstructed  in  terms  of  one's  own  prob- 


THE  SOCIAL  PRINCIPLE  239 

lems  and  experience,  there  is  valid  ground  for  the  at- 
tempt to  communicate  procedures  to  others. 

The  ethics  of  methodology  with  a  clear  field  ahead 
for  the  practice  of  morality  must  inevitably  be  con- 
tained in  that  chapter  in  any  book  on  "How  to  Teach" 
just  after  the  last  chapter  in  the  hook.  That  chapter  must 
be  constantly  rewritten  and  never  appear  in  print. 
There  can  be  no  vital,  moral  situation  in  any  classroom 
unless  that  interesting  chapter  is  being  constantly 
written  in  the  flux  and  interplay  of  human  forces. 

This  view  frankly  subordinates  the  intellectualistic 
and  national  principles  and  ideals  to  the  moral  and 
social  principles  and  ideals.  Conscience  is  above 
science.  The  artist  is  above  the  artisan.  Character 
is  the  result  of  social  interaction;  character  is  built 
in  the  stream  of  life. 

The  new  declaration  is  that  my  teaching  is  your 
learning  viewed  from  my  angle,  and  your  learning  is 
my  teaching  viewed  from  your  angle.  Democratic 
ideals  call  for  the  application  of  this  interacting  prin- 
ciple. The  business  is  not  a  transaction,  a  mechanical 
addition  of  disparate  actions,  but  an  interaction. 

Heretofore  the  professor  lectured,  taught,  imparted 
information;  the  student  listened,  learned,  reacted 
(perhaps).  Neither  assumed  a  dynamic  responsibility. 
If  the  student  failed,  an  assortment  of  reasons  (alibis) 
was  at  hand.  Now,  under  the  democratic  movement, 
the  teacher  may  not  dismiss  the  pupil  from  his  mind. 
The  requirement  is  to  locate  responsibility  by  examin- 
ing the  facts  and  by  prescribing  the  medicine  and  by 
changing  the  treatment,  if  need  be. 

The  old  pedagogy,  constructed  along  arbitrary  and 
mechanical  lines,  afforded  abundant  opportunity  for 


240  DIRECTING  STUDY 

the  indolent  formalist  to  execute  all  sorts  of  meta- 
physical flank  movements,  the  classical  example  of 
which  is  the  famous  trick  executed  by  Plato  on  the 
Sophists  when  the  question  of  reality  was  removed  to 
the  celestial  shoe,  the  visible  shoe  being  only  a  copy 
of  that  ethereal  invention.  In  other  words,  it  has 
always  been  easy  for  the  schoolmaster  to  explain  the 
failures  of  his  students.  Now  with  the  more  intimate 
and  immediate  types  of  direction,  control,  checking, 
and  appraising  in  teaching  contemplated  in  an  inter- 
pretation of  ethics  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  con- 
sumer, rather  than  the  producer,  it  is  becoming  ap- 
parent that  pupils  and  teacher  shall  come  to  terms 
with  each  other  on  the  basis  of  mutuality. 

In  passing  from  the  aristocratic  temper  over  to  a 
democratic  attitude  the  law  is  no  longer  regarded  as 
the  schoolmaster.  Under  the  influence  of  the  old  order 
the  practice  was  to  have  first  a  course  in  the  law  and 
then  a  course  in  Christianity.  The  demand  which 
St.  Paul  made  was  that  man  shall  have  the  latter 
straightaway.  The  law  can  hardly  serve  as  a  tem- 
porary expedient.  The  alleged  secret  is  out.  The 
American  youngster  in  these  times  is  not  inclined  to 
regard  his  teacher  as  the  law.  The  moral  effect  of 
pretending  to  possess  a  virtue  or  quality  as  a  tem- 
porary expedient  is  obvious. 

The  survival  of  certain  forms  of  Neo-Puritanism  is 
a  mark  of  the  aristocratic  temper.  What  is  good  for 
"others"  raises  an  interesting  question.  Consensus 
of  opinion  and  majority  decision  in  a  democracy  can 
usually  be  relied  upon  as  a  means  of  securing  justice 
and  freedom.  There  is,  however,  a  tendency  to  fall 
back  upon  authoritative  statement  and  to  superpose 


THE  SOCIAL  PRINCIPLE  241 

prescriptive  methods.  In  autocratic  forms  of  social 
organization  the  ruling  class  exercises  the  right  to 
dictate  the  terms  upon  which  the  masses  shall  live. 
In  building  the  self-active,  responsible,  socially  minded 
personality  in  a  democratic  society  the  school  must 
perform  a  unique  function — a  function  radically  dif- 
ferent from  that  which  is  deemed  adequate  and  en- 
tirely satisfactory  in  anti-democratic  states. 

The  new  ethical  humanism  can  be  translated  into 
every-day  practice  by  employing  the  social  principle. 
The  knowledge  ideal,  intellectualism,  will  not  be  dis- 
regarded. No  plea  is  being  set  up  for  ignorance.  The 
entire  programme  is  to  be  modified  by  shifting  the 
emphasis  from  the  primacy  of  information  to  the  pri- 
macy of  boys  and  girls  as  reacting  agents. 

It  is  not  enough  to  remove  "impediments  from 
without."  The  old  absolutism  parades  under  a  new 
guise  if  "impediments  from  within"  are  harbored.  If 
the  practising  ground  for  morality  includes  as  one  of 
its  main  ingredients  the  element  of  choice  at  the  fork 
of  the  road,  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  negotiate  a 
methodology  conceived  in  terms  of  ready-made  devices 
and  closed  categories.  The  inevitable  tendency  to  re- 
duce "methods"  to  a  formal  and  mechanical  routine 
deletes  the  practice  of  choosing  freely.  It  is  the  bold, 
energetic,  affirmative,  and  self-assertive  will  that  ven- 
tures with  a  moral  optimism  into  new  and  complex 
situations. 

In  the  field  of  experimentation  log-books  are  more 
important  than  plan-books  and  guides.  In  making 
honest  entries  in  the  former  we  may  develop  a  keen 
sense  of  self-criticism  and  refine  our  powers  of  judg- 
ment. 


242  DIRECTING  STUDY 

There  is  no  break  in  this  emphasis  with  modern 
science;  in  fact,  modern  science  is  concerned  at  every 
turn  with  the  same  fundamental  query,  namely,  "What 
am  I  to  do  next?"  in  this  and  that  situation.  The 
ability  to  move  forward  in  the  experimental  method 
is  a  sign  of  moral  stamina.  There  is  no  point  in  the 
idle  reaction  that  any  reference  to  the  moral  fibre  is 
a  mark  of  sentimentalism.  Experimental  science, 
surely  the  experimental  method,  furnishes  an  excellent 
field  for  the  exercise  of  morality. 

The  plea  is  not  for  educational  self-determination. 
It  is  not  a  plea  for  the  low  mythology  of  equality  in 
which  American  politics  weltered  for  well-nigh  a  cen- 
tury. It  may  be  regarded  as  a  new  programme  in 
which  individualism  is  guaranteed  (even  to  children) 
and  also  a  clear  path  toward  a  full  recognition  and 
appreciation  of  alternate  leaderships  and  the  genius 
for  co-operation,  not  by  schemes  of  regimental  uni- 
formity, not  by  swallowing  up  the  individual  in  a  so- 
cialistic composite  self,  but  rather  the  urge  of  a  new 
sense  of  moral  responsibility  and  a  boundless  respect 
for  each  and  all  in  a  democracy. 

This  means  an  end  of  status  and  a  frank  recognition 
of  the  evocative  and  creative  powers  of  every  normally 
constituted  person.  To  accomplish  this  end  the  teacher 
should  recognize  the  pupil's  "Right  to  be  Wrong." 
There  will  be  less  superimposition  of  accredited  knowl- 
edge as  erudition.  There  will  be  time  to  consider  the 
position  and  the  point  of  view  of  the  learner.  He  may 
be  of  the  firm  conviction  that  the  earth  is  not  spherical. 
It  is  not  wise  to  ask  him  to  repeat  a  conventional  ritual 
about  it  merely  for  the  sake  of  conformity.  If  there 
arises  honest  debate,  the  hope  of  education  is  being 
realized. 


THE  SOCIAL  PRINCIPLE  243 

The  superstructure  of  systematization,  all  that  is 
lugged  in  under  the  aegis  of  national  eflSciency,  may 
operate  against  the  full-orbed  development  of  the 
individual.  This  happens  when  life  is  sacrificed  to 
the  majesty  of  plan  and  precision. 

The  objective  set  forth  in  this  analysis  is  a  revealing 
of  the  ideals  of  America  redirected  to  reason  and  self- 
realization  through  invigorating  programmes  of  self- 
direction  under  team-play.  There  is  nothing  alarm- 
ing in  this  proposition  when  we  hitch  up  our  trusteeship 
with  Hampden,  Burke,  Washington,  and  Lincoln. 

The  Prussian  system  of  education  with  its  ugly 
mechanism,  nationalism,  exclusive  intellectualism,  and 
politicism  has  been  tried  and  found  wanting.  It  failed 
to  produce  the  morally  self-directing,  self-lawgiving 
personality.  We  in  America  were  not  far-seeing  in 
imitating  Prussian  methodology. 

The  social  institutions  of  cricket  and  football  offer 
a  suggestion:  "The  captain,  ah!  what  a  responsibility 
— firmness,  gentleness,  skill,  and  I  know  not  what 
other  rare  qualities — almost  equal  to  those  of  the  head- 
master." This  is  a  recognition  of  the  social-moral 
principle  which  is  capable  of  being  incorporated  into 
our  classroom  procedure.  It  would  mean  no  longer 
the  law  (drill  and  preparation)  and  then  a  course  in 
civic  responsibility  (application).  The  boys  and  girls 
should  be  trained  in  responsibility  for  choosing.  It 
means  that  originality,  creativeness,  initiative,  shall 
be  growing  qualities  now  in  every  pupil  to  the  full  mea- 
sure of  his  possibility.  Each  will  be  given  a  fair  oppor- 
tunity to  develop  his  own  idiomatic  personality.  The 
individual  is  not  to  be  hammered  into  a  certain  pre- 
determined pattern.    In  his  obedience  to  rightly  con- 


244  DIRECTING  STUDY 

stituted  authority  he  is  to  become  intelligent.  Ex- 
ternal discipline  is  directed  toward  the  goal  of  a  "must 
be"  from  within.  In  all  this  the  individual  counts 
and  has  value  in  a  social-moral  order. 

The  old  assumptions  that  some  are  to  be  everlasting 
minors,  to  be  kept  by  their  brothers,  to  be  excluded 
somehow  from  the  intellectual,  material,  and  spiritual 
resources  of  the  nation — all  that  is  a  recrudescence  of 
the  aristocratic  order.  The  time  to  begin  this  new  edu- 
cation is  this  very  hour.  We  have  been  influenced  by 
the  old  theology  long  enough;  we  need  a  new  theology. 
This  world  was  conceived  as  a  preparation  for  another. 
That  led  to  the  gospel  of  resignation;  man  escaped  the 
social  problems  of  the  day.  It's  no  use  to  prolong  the 
argument.  Education  must  find  a  new  dynamic  in 
life  here  and  now  and  on-going.  Plan  or  method  is 
inherent  in  the  process.  It  is  ours  to  unify  and  co- 
ordinate our  ideals  out  of  a  serious,  joyous  striving 
under  the  philosophy  of  self-expression,  or  self-effec- 
tuation wherein  the  ^^ discharge  of  life"  is  the  main- 
spring and  urge. 

He  who  would  teach  by  pattern  methods,  thinking 
he  may  on  that  account  be  scientific,  misses  both  life 
and  the  scientific  temper,  and  besides  fails  to  afford  a 
deliberate  practising  ground  for  morality.  The  teacher 
who  has  found  a  formula,  a  recipe  by  which  to  operate 
on  little  Billy  who  plays  truant  next  October  has  igno- 
miniously  failed — not  only  in  handling  Billy  (he  has 
protective  coloring),  but  he  has  lost  the  trail  utterly 
in  his  own  moral  growth. 

Plato  long  since  urged  it:  "In  all  language,  customs, 
mathematics,  etc.,  if  you  would  really  do  it  you  must 
rub  the  phenomena  of  the  individual  psyche  with  the 


THE  SOCIAL  PRINCIPLE  245 

social  life,  as  you  would  rub  two  sticks  together  (a 
ruler  of  rubber  and  a  flannel  rag)  if  you  would  produce 
the  flash  of  light." 

There  is  no  "spiritual  explosion"  when  status  reigns 
— teacher-mind  off  there  on  a  pedestal  (furtive  pulpit) 
and  pupil-mind  off  there  (in  the  mourner's  pew).  The 
belt  is  off  the  human  generator.  The  generator  is  out 
of  repair  or  it  needs  oil.  The  social  principle  is  the 
clutch  which  throws  the  belt  on  the  human  generator. 
The  course  of  study  which  lays  down  in  specific  terms 
in  January,  1922,  what  is  to  be  done  in  December, 
1923,  is  also  an  educational  culprit.  The  set  lesson 
(uniform)  with  a  just-"  set  "-in-your-seat-and-study — 
all  this  from  the  yesterdays  will  not  be  adequate  for 
to-morrow.  It  all  tends  to  place  a  veto  on  our  to- 
morrows. And  in  just  so  far  as  that  happens  by  so 
much  is  the  ground  cut  away  for  the  practice  of  origi- 
nality and  choice  at  the  fork  of  the  road;  hence,  no 
dynamic  exists  for  morality.  The  cut-and-dried  plan- 
book  is  conceived  out  of  a  Prussian  intellectualism.  It 
is  based  upon  indoctrination  of  ideals  and  facts,  as  such. 

Nobody  in  that  scheme  of  education  wants  a  self- 
active  metabolism.  In  that  system  the  aim  is  to  go 
about  scraping  together  little  dabs  of  information  on  a 
purely  intellectual  quest.  Man  is  more  than  such  a 
philosophy  would  indicate.  Man  is  primarily  a  willing 
and  feeling  (appreciating),  as  well  as  an  intellectual, 
animal.  He,  in  America,  is  a  determined  willing  cre- 
ator. 

It  is  one  thing  to  make  discipline  serve  the  ends  of 
education;  it  is  an  entirely  different  thing  to  make  edu- 
cation serve  the  ends  of  a  disciplined  manhood.  Noth- 
ing short  of  instant  and  willing  obedience  to  authority 


246  DIRECTING  STUDY 

can  be  accepted  in  the  adventure  of  creating  the  gen- 
tleman in  a  democracy.  And  yet,  that  authority 
which  is  imperative  in  building  the  responsible  indi- 
vidual rests  upon  a  discipline  that  serves  the  ends  of 
democratic  education.  The  goal  is  self-discipline — 
a  must-be  from  within. 


CHAPTER  VII 
INITIATIVE  AND  AUTHORITY 

The  Nature  of  Freedom. — If  we  start  in  the  quest 
of  effective  freedom  by  prospecting  up  the  canyon  sign- 
posted ^^ Liberty  is  an  Achievement,  not  a  Donation,'' 
then  it  will  be  evident  that  it  is  the  artist  who  has 
freedom  to  paint  the  picture,  the  athlete  to  run  the 
race,  the  judge  to  render  a  decision  in  law,  the  scholar 
to  express  a  judgment  in  his  chosen  field,  the  locomotive 
engineer  to  turn  on  the  power,  the  surgeon  to  perform 
the  operation,  etc.  In  brief,  any  real  freedom,  in  any 
direction,  must  be  earned.  The  price  of  self-discipline 
must  be  paid  by  all  alike.  The  true  liberty  man  pos- 
sesses is  the  liberty  he  has  worked  up  to.  The  "free" 
execution  of  the  pianist  is  the  goal  toward  which  this 
chapter  is  pointed. 

A  severe  doctrine,  indeed!  Yet  actually  "Man 
creates  himself  by  his  own  activity,"  as  Kant  phrased 
it.  Each  individual  is  a  candidate  for  personality. 
"Man  is  not,  until  he  becomes.''  Here  is  a  sure  foun- 
dation upon  which  to  build  the  free-operating,  self- 
active,  responsible  person.  The  process  of  candidat- 
ing,  of  becoming,  may  be  carried  on  indefinitely. 

The  "educated  man"  is  an  unfortunate  way  of  ex- 
pressing it.  The  difiiculty  lies  in  the  ending,  ed — a  dim 
survival  of  the  product  of  the  finishing-school.  There 
are,  too,  the  "educated  failures" — those  who  accumu- 
late a  suflacient  number  of  marks,  indicative  of  inca- 

247 


248  DIRECTING  STUDY 

pacity,  to  be  recommended  for  the  final  honors  of  the 
school.  Half-learning,  a  total  failure  to  incorporate 
the  spirit  of  the  subject,  duck-backing  an  education 
are  familiar  forms  of  indictment  of  our  schooling.  Any 
definition  of  education  is  inadequate  that  fails  to  em- 
phasize a  growing  personality  and  a  "continuous  re- 
construction of  experience." 

Freedom  is  never  a  passive  right;  it  is  a  quality  of 
actual  achieving.  The  "free"  man  in  his  particular 
mode  of  excellence  or  skill  does  not  lay  by  a  store  of 
energy,  called  his  liberty,  which  he  may  draw  upon  at 
will.  The  exponents  of  original  endowment  seem  to 
imply,  now  and  again,  that  all  a  "genius"  needs  to 
do  is  to  draw  on  a  reservoir  of  stored-up  energy,  smite 
some  rock  as  a  Moses  of  old,  and  the  life-giving  ele- 
ments will  issue  forth. 

By  ceasing  to  energize  in  profession  or  work,  by  per- 
mitting effort-making  capacity  to  cease  or  run  at  low 
ebb,  one  loses  whatever  freedom  one  has  achieved. 

From  Irrational  Intolerance  to  the  Anarchy  of  Toler- 
ance.— About  four  hundred  years  ago,  when  the  modern 
democrat  began  to  grow  up,  irrational  authority  could 
no  longer  be  secure  in  its  old  sanctions.  The  story  of 
the  struggle  for  freedom  of  thought  has  been  both  thrill- 
ing and  pathetic.  When  the  old  securities  began  to 
disintegrate,  there  appeared  a  new  menace  to  progress. 
Equality  of  status  of  all  "honest"  opinions  with  judg- 
ments based  upon  rational  sanctions  was  substituted 
for  the  aristocracy  of  opinion  and  authoritative  man- 
dates. We  are  still  living  in  an  age  in  which  the  sanc- 
tity of  opinions  is  as  jealously  protected  as  that  of 
property.  Freedom  of  thought  is  safe  only  when  it  is 
realized  that  it  entails  a  desperate  responsibility  to 


INITIATIVE  AND   AUTHORITY  249 

think,  and  to  think  not  in  terms  of  a  superficial  ra- 
tionalizing, but  in  terms  of  our  modern  scientific  and 
creative  modes. 

Our  intolerable  modern  tolerance  is  working  havoc  in 
no  phase  of  Hfe  to-day  with  such  tragic  consequences 
as  in  education  in  its  wider  significance.  Some  fanatic 
'  cult  or  group  of  queer  folk  is  perfectly  secure  in  our 
democratic  America  in  holding  mediaeval  opinions  and 
in  "educating"  its  children  in  the  doctrines  of  organi- 
zations wholly  out  of  touch  and  sympathy  with  twen- 
tieth-century science  and  morality.  Such  a  cult  is  pro- 
tected by  the  state  in  teaching  that  the  earth  is  flat, 
that  evolution  is  the  work  of  his  Satanic  Majesty,  or 
that  loyalty  to  the  ideals  of  the  nation  is  only  a  cunning 
scheme  of  the  politician.  And  just  because  such  opin- 
ions are  thought  to  be  "honest"  opinions  their  sanctity 
is  not  molested. 

A  whole  nation,  a  mighty  potential  people,  may  be 
corrupted  to  the  very  roots  by  a  false  attitude  or  ideal 
under  the  protection  of  "honest"  opinions.  Even  a 
democracy  may  be  seduced  by  some  insidious  propa- 
ganda of  the  uber-alles  theory,  such  as  America  over 
all,  and  the  schools  may  become  indoctrinated  with 
that  ideal  under  the  enthusiastic  leadership  of  un^ 
doubted  patriots  spreading  their  gospel,  thrilled  with 
perfectly  "honest"  opinions.  The  deeper  loyalties  to 
the  commonwealth  and  to  humanity  may  not  be  se- 
cured by  such  methods  at  aU. 

The  day  of  the  old  repressive  measures  under  irra- 
tional sanctions  are  rapidly  passing  with  respect  to 
external  forms  of  deformation  and  wrongs.  There 
remain  all  those  "impediments  from  within"  which 
hinder  the  free  development  of  the  child  and  which 


250  DIRECTING  STUDY 

make  impossible  the  full  release  of  every  wholesome 
potentiality.  The  age  of  fourteen,  a  remnant  of  an  old 
theological  dogma  of  church  confirmation,  is  still  re- 
garded by  the  great  majority  of  ''intelligent"  Ameri- 
cans as  the  proper  leaving  age  in  school  legislation. 
Crystallization  of  educational  public  opinion  on  this 
leaving  age  has  no  doubt  been  stressfully  augmented 
by  extensive  imitation  of  German  ideals  and  practices. 
At  fourteen  the  child  in  Germany  in  the  Volksschulen 
was  shunted  into  vocational  schools.  "  Statesmen  "  are 
pathetically  indifferent  to  the  cry  of  the  adolescent  in 
this  twentieth  century.  The  "right"  of  parents  to 
take  the  child  out  of  school  at  fourteen  years  of  age  is 
blindly  protected.  Only  about  30  per  cent  of  the  youth 
of  the  nation  are  in  our  high  schools;  the  level  of  Ameri- 
can citizenship  is  barely  above  the  6th  grade.  It  is  not 
enough  to  point  with  pride  or  to  view  with  alarm  the 
development  of  the  high  school.  Our  neglect  of  adoles- 
cence will  be  looked  back  upon  as  the  consummate 
instance  of  the  communal  crimes  for  which  we  shall 
be  despised.  The  argument  for  full-time  education 
for  the  youth  of  the  nation  is  overwhelming,  yet  we 
in  America  allow  boys  and  girls  to  sally  forth  unpro- 
tected and  uninstructed  into  the  world  just  when  that 
all-important  sex  instinct  is  beginning  to  obtrude  it- 
self upon  consciousness.  They  become  fagged  juvenile 
workers  in  our  machine  age  and  are  rapidly  exposed 
to  all  manner  of  debasing  influences.  A  beggarly 
eight  hours  a  week  in  continuation  schools  is  a  shame- 
ful beginning.  The  imperative  need  of  full-time  edu- 
cation for  all  the  youth  of  the  nation  up  through  the 
high  school,  or  at  least  until  eighteen  years  of  age,  is 
too  obvious  for  elaboration. 


INITIATIVE  AND   AUTHORITY  251 

Here  is  the  major  diflElculty  blocking  the  road  to  real 
progress  in  the  emancipation  of  the,  child  and  the  full 
release  of  creative  power: 

Opinions  are  sacred  and  inviolable  individual  rights — every 
folly  and  patent  idiocy  can  claim  the  same  "respect"  as  the  most 
stringent  rational  conclusion.  //  any  one  should  venture  to  raise 
a  doubt  about  the  right  to  inflict  deliberate  and  irremediable  deforma- 
tion on  the  defenseless  mind  of  a  child,  to  instil  irrational  prej- 
udices, to  teach  falsehoods  to  cripple  effectually  and  completely  his 
rational  powers,  to  poison  the  sources  of  judgment,  to  rob  him  of 
his  human  heritage — such  a  suggestion  [any  interference  in  the 
right  of  a  parent  or  cult  to  inflict  deliberate  deformation  on  the 
defenseless  mind  of  a  child]  would  raise  a  storm  of  righteous 
indignation,  the  cry  would  go  up  from  the  successors  of  the  In- 
quisitors and  High  Commissioners  that  the  sacred  rights  of  con- 
science are  being  challenged,  that  it  sought  to  bring  back  the  days 
of  persecution  and  intolerance,  that  liberty,  freedom  of  teach- 
ing, the  most  indefeasible  rights  of  the  subject  are  being  menaced 
and  violated.  It  would  be  as  scandalous  to  dispute  that  the 
parent  has  an  absolute  right  to  strangle  a  child's  mind  as  it  would 
formerly  have  been  to  dispute  his  right  to  strangle  his  body. 
All  sincere  opinions  are  "  honest."  Wrong  must  not  be  tolerated, 
but  every  opinion  has  a  sacred  right  to  be  tolerated.* 

A  Projected  Investigation  into  the  Life  Basis  of 
Human  Behavior. — Would  that  some  great  scientific 
humanist  might  be  endowed  with  adequate  funds  to 
conduct  a  real  experiment  along  the  following  lines ! 
($50,000  would  be  little  enough:  this  is  no  job  for  the 
amateur  student  writing  an  undergraduate  thesis). 
Here  is  the  problem:  Let  him  give  the  modern 
"intelligence"  tests  in  September  to  some  100  children 
in  the  2d  or  9th  grade,  say;  file  the  results  in  a  secure 
pigeonhole  and  leave  them  there  until  the  end  of  the 

*  Briffault,  Robert,  The  Making  of  Humanity,  p.  319. 


252  DIRECTING   STUDY 

school  year.  These  tests  will  constitute  A  in  the  in- 
vestigation. Neither  this  scientific  humanist  nor  the 
teachers  are  to  know  the  results  of  these  tests  until 
one  year  has  elapsed. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  let  the  marks  of  the  teachers 
be  collected  and  filed  in  another  secure  pigeonhole. 
These  marks  will  constitute  B  in  the  investigation. 

Now,  upon  giving  the  A  tests,  let  our  scientific 
humanist  give  full  time  (at  a  salary  of  about  $10,000) 
with  expert  assistants — a  physician,  an  histologist,  a 
psychiatrist,  a  social  psychologist,  an  educational 
biologist — and  make  a  study  of  these  kiddies  in  their 
home  contacts  and  in  such  other  non-school  relations 
as  may  reveal  individual  variations  in  the  broader 
training  of  life.  These  results  will  constitute  C  in 
the  investigation.  A  "standard"  will  be  constructed. 
Our  scientific  humanist  will  cunningly  contrive  to  find 
out  what  the  intellectual  interests  of  the  child's 
parents,  relatives,  and  immediate  friends  are.  He 
will  go  into  the  homes  to  detect  whether  the  child 
has  a  "dad"  or  a  father;  whether  or  not  the  par- 
ents are  good  teachers  of  lessons  assigned  for  home 
work  by  the  school;  whether  the  child  is  told  at  the 
common  board  that  he  is  to  be  seen  and  not  heard; 
whether  there  is  the  old  irrational  intolerance  with  the 
little  child,  general  indulgence,  or  a  fine  sense  of  effec- 
tive freedom;  whether  the  measures  are  repressive  or 
rationally  directed  to  effective  self-expression,  etc. 
He  will  discover  what  books  and  periodicals  and  other 
educative  mental  food  are  in  the  home.  He  will  dis- 
close those  character-making  forces  in  the  intimate  rela- 
tions between  father  and  son  in  the  dressing-room  in 
the  morning,  about  the  hearthstone  in  the  evening, 


INITIATIVE  AND   AUTHORITY  253 

in  the  hike  and  the  game,  in  the  work  they  may  do 
co-operatively  or  by  dictatorial  authority.  He  will  dis- 
close the  opportunities  and  responsibilities  of  the  chUd 
in  the  many-sided  activities  of  the  home  and  other 
institutions  out  of  school.  He  will  discover  what  the 
incentives  are  in  music  and  in  all  forms  of  artistic  ex- 
pression impinging  on  the  life  of  the  growing  youngster. 
The  sturdy  parent,  poor  in  worldly  goods,  may  be 
instituting  his  fledgling  into  his  social  heritage  in  a 
marvellous  way,  while  an  aristocratic  neighbor  may  be 
indulging  his  progeny.  These  are  only  hints  of  the 
year's  work  to  be  done  under  C  in  the  investigation. 
Perhaps  many  years  will  be  required  for  adequate 
mastery  of  the  problem.  An  endless  complexity  of 
backgrounds  must  be  considered. 

Then  let  the  experts  open  A  and  B  and  make  their 
quartile  distributions  and  establish  their  correlations. 
The  real  task  is  still  untouched.  Our  scientific  hu- 
manist brings  in  his  data  under  C.  Now  let  him  make 
a  careful  comparison  Between  A  and  C  and  again  be- 
tween B  and  C.  It  may  be  that  he  will  find  that  the  dice 
are  loaded  in  A  and  B.  In  other  words,  may  it  not  he 
that  the  conditions  and  circumstances  which  produce  A 
likewise  produce  B?  And  it  may  he  that  those  conditions 
and  circumstances  lie  wholly  within  the  remediahle  fields 
of  human  hehavior.  It  may  be  that  the  factor  of  original 
structure  plays  a  minor  role  in  all  this.  That  is  to 
say,  it  may  be  that  nearly  all  the  successes  and  diffi- 
culties of  children  in  school  will  be  discovered  to  be 
conditioned  mainly  by  all  this  wealth  or  poverty  of 
backgrounds  under  C.  The  suggestion  here  for  the 
educator  is  to  study  procedure  values  and  to  cultivate 
all  those  influences  that  tend  to  develop  creativeness 


254  DIRECTING  STUDY 

and  initiative.  It  may  be  that  some  children  are  ac- 
tually being  dwarfed  by  the  methods  of  education. 
It  may  be  that  in  more  cases  than  we  imagine  the  father 
or  mother  or  an  interested  outsider  is  the  real  guide 
and  director  of  the  child's  creative  genius  and  that  the 
formalism  of  the  school  fails  to  smother  it  out.  If  the 
full  effect  of  C  could  be  realized  it  might  serve  to  en- 
force the  hypothesis  that  the  pupil  shall  become  the 
educative  unit  and  not  the  class  group.  Moreover,  it 
may  turn  out  that  the  prophecy  based  upon  A  and  B 
cannot  be  of  any  value  to  the  teacher  in  the  light  of  C. 
A  stressful  change  in  procedure,  it  has  been  demon- 
strated, will  disturb,  if  not  invalidate,  the  correlation 
between  A  and  B.  If  the  results  in  A  are  revealed  in 
advance  of  the  journey,  human  nature  being  what  it  is, 
there  is  great  danger  of  being  obtuse  to  the  data  under 
C,  and  also  utterly  blind  to  the  possibilities  of  experi- 
mental teaching. 

•  All  these  complex  factors  under  C  constitute  a  pro- 
gramme for  a  study  of  the  life  basis  of  human  activity 
and  achievement.  Even  the  theory  of  instinct,  upon 
which  an  enormous  amount  of  predication  has  been 
made,  must  now  be  regarded  as  an  hypothesis.  The  sci- 
entist takes  into  account  the  personal  equation.  He,  if 
he  works  without  bias,  if  he  guards  the  habit  of  robing 
his  opinions  in  the  livery  of  science,  will  tie  up  his  own 
prejudices  in  a  bundle  and  label  it  as  one  set  of  facts 
that  he  must  consider  in  the  creative  or  scientific  mode 
of  thinking.  The  difficulty  and  the  danger  of  basing 
a  prophecy  on  A  above  would  seem  to  lie  in  a  readiness 
to  believe  that  original  nature  has  doomed  the  child  to 
one  level  of  "intelligence"  or  another. 

The  evolutionary  products  of  the  race  continue  to 


INITIATIVE  AND  AUTHORITY  255 

be  transmitted,  and  the  old  argument  as  to  whether 
heredity  or  environment  determines  more  markedly  the 
individual  is  carried  on  with  a  high  degree  of  enthusi- 
asm by  both  sides  of  the  controversy.  Humanity,  as  a 
whole,  is  the  organism  which  transmits  the  products  of 
our  human  evolution.  These  evolutionary  products  are 
in  the  nature  of  language,  institutions,  customs,  beliefs, 
methods,  technics,  habits,  attitudes,  and  a  thousand 
ramifications  of  our  social  organization.  These  products 
are  not  derived  from  parents.  They  contribute  next 
to  nothing  in  this  social  heredity.  Every  man  is  born 
a  wild  little  animal,  wholly  uncivilized,  susceptible  of 
becoming  a  howling  savage,  whether  he  be  a  man  of 
the  5th,  15th,  or  20th  century.  It  is  the  human  world 
conceived  as  an  organism,  a  scientific  fact,  "which  makes 
him  what  he  is  and  determines  to  what  stage  of  evolu- 
tion he  shall  belong."  The  analogy  of  physiological 
heredity  will  hardly  hold  in  our  social  heredity. 

Rights  and  Duties. — In  the  realm  of  political  and 
civil  rights,  guaranteed  by  statute  or  constitution  and 
affirmed  by  court  decision,  we  have  an  apparent  excep- 
tion to  our  general  thesis.  A  man  comes  into  his  ma- 
jority and,  through  no  responsible  achievement  of  his 
own,  is  given  the  right  to  vote.  This  right  or  privilege 
has  not  been  earned.  With  the  exercise  of  such  a  right, 
there  is  coming  now  to  be  felt  a  keen  sense  of  responsi- 
bility. One  of  the  major  functions  of  the  secondary 
school  is  to  bring  all  youth  up  to  a  fine  sense  of  duty  in 
the  exercise  of  these  guaranteed  rights.  The  right  to 
vote  implies  the  duty  to  vote  intelligently;  the  right 
to  legislate  carries  with  it  the  obligation  to  legislate 
justly. 

The  right  to  life  should  be  guaranteed  every  human 


256  DIRECTING  STUDY 

being.  While  urging  a  rigorous  doctrine  of  individual 
responsibility,  it  must  be  recognized  that  a  man  thrown 
overboard  in  mid-ocean  has  no  freedom  to  swim  t6  shore. 
The  hurdles  must  not  be  insuperable.  This  is  far 
from  arguing  that  no  diflSculties  should  be  encountered. 
Yet,  a  realizable  opportunity  to  become  a  self-active, 
responsible,  free-operating  personality  is  absolutely 
essential  in  our  form  of  social  organization.  One  of 
our  real  problems  is  the  building  of  a  social  mind  that 
will  be  able  to  comprehend  and  appreciate  the  almost 
unimaginable  resources  of  human  potentiality  and  the 
vast,  untouched  reservoirs  of  possibility  of  the  human 
spirit.  Under  the  stimulus  of  our  social  enthusiasm  a 
deliberate  programme  could  now  be  projected  which 
would  employ  available  and  potential  scientific  re- 
sources in  the  building  of  the  effective  individual — the 
man  who  could  think,  who  would  be  socially  minded, 
responsible,  competent — the  man  who  could  be  trusted 
with  power. 

Every  Individual  Counts  in  Our  Conception  of  So- 
cial Organization. — A  new  leaf  in  the  book  of  human 
progress  is  being  turned  in  the  development  of  a 
dynamic  social  responsibility.  The  programme  of 
health  service  now  being  realized  in  our  schools  is  an 
expression  of  our  philosophy  of  the  supreme  value  of 
every  human  being.  A  rough  analogy  borrowed  from 
Cooley's  Social  Process  serves  a  happy  purpose 
here.  Social  forms  are  compared  to  the  wild  grape- 
vine extending  itself  over  trellises  and  fences  and  into 
trees.  "The  vine  has  received  from  its  ancestry  a 
system  of  tendencies.  There  is  the  vital  impulse  it- 
self, the  bent  to  grow.  There  is  its  habit  of  sending 
out  straight,  rapidly  growing  shoots  with  two-branched 


INITIATIVE  AND   AUTHORITY  257 

tendrils  at  the  end.  These  tendrils  revolve  slowly 
through  the  air,  and  when  one  touches  an  obstacle,  as 
a  wire  or  branch,  it  hooks  itself  about  it,  pulling  the 
shoot  up  after  it.  A  shoot  which  thus  gets  a  hold 
grows  rapidly  and  sends  out  more  tendrils;  if  it  fails 
to  get  a  hold,  it  by  and  by  sags  down  and  ceases  to 
grow.  Thus  it  feels  its  way  and  has  a  system  of  be- 
havior which  insures  growth  along  the  line  of  successful 
experiment.^'* 

The  whole  social  fabric  depends  upon  the  growth  of 
the  terminal  buds  of  evolution,  human  beings.  With- 
out a  chance  to  grip  some  obstacle  (opportunity)  the 
individual  not  only  fails  to  pull  himself  up,  but  society 
sags  just  to  the  extent  of  individual  failure.  In  apply- 
ing the  rough  analogy  of  the  grape-vine,  it  is  not  only 
obvious  that  the  new  shoot  pulls  itself  up,  but  by  the 
co-operative  pull  of  all  the  new  shoots  the  whole  com- 
plex organization  of  interwoven  vine  is  lifted  up. 
Strictly  speaking,  we  do  not  institute  our  fledgling 
youth  into  their  rich  social  heritage;  that  inheritance, 
the  achievements  of  the  past,  can  have  significance 
only  in  terms  of  self-activity  of  individuals.  The  in- 
dividual is  not  a  passive  recipient  of  culture  or  of  values 
stored  up,  but  rather  in  him  lies  the  responsibility  of 
giving  our  racial  and  social  values  expression  and  sig- 
nificance. 

We  are  the  creators  of  new  values.  The  race  has 
learned  to  walk,  but  that  fact  does  not  excuse  the 
individual  from  learning  to  walk.  The  tortoise  needs 
his  shell.  He  can't  discard  it  and  hope  to  assemble 
scraps  here  and  there  and  make  one  out  of  these  parts. 
He  must  grow  one  fit  to  serve  his  needs  in  his  environ- 

*  Cooley,  C.  H.,  Social  Process,  p.  8jf. 


258  DIRECTING  STUDY 

ment.  Old  institutions  served  their  time  and  day. 
But  to  hope  to  use  an  old  institution  suited  to  other 
times  with  its  old  forms  is  a  vain  expectation.  We 
have  the  task  of  creating  our  own  institutional  means 
to  serve  our  present  needs.  We  have  got  to  build  new 
modes  of  expression  to  fit  new  times.  New  times  are 
on  us.  We  have  got  to  go  on  recreating  our  world  and 
adjusting  ourselves  to  new  demands.  The  old  shell 
will  not  serve  us.  The  old  scraps  can't  be  patched  up 
into  a  new  cover.  The  old  garment  knit  for  covering 
and  shelter  of  a  bygone  age  will  not  suit  us  nor  serve 
us  in  our  day.  The  definitions  of  education  which 
served  a  yesterday  custom  and  practice  will  not  be 
adequate  for  our  new  order.  The  challenge  of  creative 
evolution  is:  "If  the  organism  needs  an  eye,  it  grows 
one." 

Freedom  and  Development. — The  highest  expression 
of  freedom,  as  suggested  above,  is  the  "free"  and 
ordered  execution  of  the  pianist,  the  fine  technic  of 
the  skilled  surgeon,  the  expression  of  trained  and  ex- 
pert ability  in  any  direction.  In  the  processes  of 
growth  and  self-expression  there  are  degrees  of  freedom 
attained  through  "try-out,"  through  trial  and  suc- 
cess, through  gradual  and  progressive  experimentation. 
Moreover,  freedom,  except  in  the  highly  technical  lines 
and  specialized  professions,  is  a  function  of  develop- 
ment, and  achievement  in  certain  general  directions 
becomes  basic  and  functional  in  new  pursuits.  The 
child  entering  school,  for  example,  has  gained  a  mar- 
vellous freedom  in  oral  language.  Ability  to  use  lan- 
guage, to  read  the  printed  page,  is  a  prerequisite  to 
the  study  of  geometry,  chemistry,  history,  etc.  The 
interdependence  of  capacities,  the  unity  of  experience, 


INITIATIVE  AND   AUTHORITY  259 

as  well  as  the  variety  of  achievements,  should  be  em- 
phasized. Every  performance  is  the  expression  of  the 
synthesis  of  life  at  that  point,  the  resultant  of  all  the 
forces  of  the  organism. 

Self-Fulfilment  vs.  Survival  Theory. — To  urge  the 
thesis  that  freedom  means  capacity,  the  release  of 
potentialities  through  self-expression  and  education, 
tends  to  place  responsibility  upon  man,  where  it  prop- 
erly belongs.  The  tendency,  so  often,  has  been  to 
shift  responsibility  to  a  place  where  it  is  borne  without 
a  murmur.  A  prodigious  amount  of  energy,  sufficient 
to  produce  intellectual  lockjaw,  is  spent  in  getting 
capacity  securely  aufgehoben  in  the  absolute.  There 
is  for  the  educator  a  wholesome  bit  of  philosophy  in 
the  theory  that  improvement  in  power  is  fundamentally 
a  function  of  exercise  and  effort,  rather  than  a  function 
of  structure :  it  serves  to  keep  alive  a  healthy  optimism 
in  education.  It  is  a  far  cry  from  the  philosophy  which 
prompts  the  teacher  to  remark  when  the  student  is 
failing,  "He  can't  learn  it,''  to  the  philosophy  which 
enables  one  to  say,  "He  does  not  learn  it''  or,  "He  has 
not  learned  it  yet." 

The  whole  theory  of  survival,  a  comfortable  doctrine 
for  those  who  survive,  is  a  statement  of  what  is,  not  a 
declaration  of  what  ought  to  be.  Can  there  be  doubt 
any  longer  that  tens  of  thousands  of  children  are 
stunted,  dwarfed,  and  distorted  only  by  lack  of  oppor- 
tunity? Not  all  the  deteriorate  are  degenerate.  Na- 
ture knows  no  such  differences  in  original  nature  as 
are  revealed  constantly  between  the  fortunate  and  the 
unfortunate.  The  unfortunate,  from  an  educational 
standpoint,  are  not  confined  to  the  misery  class,  the 
extreme  poor  in  worldly  goods.     The  white  flag  of 


260  DIRECTING  STUDY 

surrender  is  run  up  by  the  pampered  and  ill-trained 
of  many  a  home  in  which  the  financial  struggle  is 
hardly  felt  by  the  children.  The  lethargic  and  mori- 
bund minds  are  found  to  cut  across  lines  of  cleavage  of 
social  groupings.  Inequality  made  by  circumstances 
accounts  in  large  measure  for  differences  in  school 
achievement.  The  hideousness  and  inefficiency  of  ex- 
isting provision  for  the  physical,  moral,  social,  intellec- 
tual, and,  in  the  later  teens,  vocational  development 
of  all  the  children  and  youth  of  the  nation  must  be 
pointed  out  and  appraised  in  arriving  at  a  fair  judg- 
ment of  the  adequacy  of  educational  opportunities. 
Absolute  equality  of  circumstance  is  not  desired;  but 
equality  of  opportunity,  not  uniformity  of  condition, 
is  demanded  in  order  that  each  individual  may  develop 
to  his  full  stature.  The  wholesome  doctrine  of  self- 
completion  is  substituted  for  the  doctrine  of  survival. 

Alternate  Leaderships. — The  famous  shibboleth^ 
'^  liberty ,  equality,  and  fraternity"  gains  a  new  signifi- 
cance in  the  view  that  freedom  is  an  achievement,  not 
an  endowment.  Individuals  are  never  equally  free  in 
attainments. 

An  outstanding  fault  of  democracy  thus  far  has  been 
an  impatience  with  trained  and  technical  ability.  A 
certain  claim  to  omniscience  is  often  stubbornly  de- 
fended in  the  persistence  of  the  Jack  of  all  trades  and 
master  of  none.  To  admit  inequality  in  capacity 
would  seem  to  argue  that  one  man  is  not  as  good  as 
another.  All  this  wells  up  out  of  the  low  mythology 
of  our  political  democracy.  (One  recalls  the  policy 
of  President  Jackson  in  ushering  into  office  the  intel- 
lectually disinherited.) 

To-day,  with  increasing  specialization  in  skill  and 


INITIATIVE  AND   AUTHORITY  261 

profession,  our  problem  is  to  incorporate  into  American 
life  a  recognition  and  appreciation  of  alternate  leader- 
ships.* 

This  means,  literally,  that  if  on  Sunday  a  man  de- 
sires to  have  his  spiritual  needs  ministered  to,  he  may 
go  to  his  church  and  bow  before  his  minister;  if  on 
Monday  he  plans  an  investment,  he  ought  to  be  able 
to  go  to  his  banker  for  expert  advice ;  if  on  Tuesday  he 
wishes  to  build  a  house,  he  should  consult  his  architect; 
if  on  Wednesday  he  is  in  doubt  about  his  health,  he 
should  call  upon  his  physician;  if  on  Thursday  he  wants 
to  have  a  point  in  law  settled,  he  should  submit  the 
proposition  to  his  lawyer;  if  on  Friday  he  is  concerned 
about  the  education  of  his  son,  he  might  very  properly 
seek  the  advice  of  the  educator;  if  on  Saturday  his 
business  calls  for  a  new  process  of  manufacturing,  he 
must  consult  the  scientist;  and  so  on  in  a  hundred 
clear-cut  directions. 

The  main  purpose  of  the  common  school,  including 
the  high  school,  is  to  lay  those  broad  foundations  that 
will  enable  the  common  man,  and  the  specialist,  to 
know,  in  general,  what  their  specialists  are  about.  In 
an  intelligent  and  adequate  recognition  and  apprecia- 
tion of  alternate  leaderships,  we  are  to  discover  the 
basis  of  a  genius  for  a  permanent  and  a  scientific  co- 
operation. In  some  such  a  conception  a  possible  es- 
cape from  the  Nemesis  of  specialization  is  afforded, 
and  at  the  same  time  a  basis  is  laid  for  an  understand- 
ing of  life  in  terms  of  a  complex  system  of  "mutually 
interpenetrating  interests." 

Certainly,   provision   must   be   made   for   different 

*  A  thesis  ably  worked  out  and  popularized  by  President  Suzzallo, 
University  of  Washington. 


262  DIRECTING  STUDY 

modes  of  excellence.  "Each  in  his  own  tongue"  ex- 
presses, in  a  way,  a  dominant  characteristic  of  America 
described  as  a  "People  of  Action."  In  theory  and 
practice  the  American  is  an  individualist.  A  flat  uni- 
formity, any  form  of  equality,  superimposed,  would  be 
secured  at  the  expense  of  liberty.  How  to  guaranty 
that  individualism  which  our  institutions  have  fostered 
and  at  the  same  time  engraft  upon  that  individualism 
the  genius  for  co-operation  is  one  statement  of  the 
problem  of  our  social  order. 

Our  Americanism  and  Education. — There  has  been 
in  the  United  States  a  spirit  of  give  and  take,  a  disposi- 
tion to  live  and  let  live.  The  freedom  of  democracy, 
the  spirit  of  tolerance  and  friendliness,  could  be  ex- 
pressed with  comparative  ease  as  long  as  there  was 
abundance  of  free  land.  Now,  the  frontier  is  a  thing 
of  the  past.  Our  industrial  order  has  introduced  difii- 
cult  and  serious  problems  of  liberty.  Equality  of 
circumstance  is  not  essential  to  democracy.  Equality 
of  food,  of  shelter,  of  clothing,  no  man  wants.  That 
is  surely  not  the  way  out.  The  school  is  not  required 
to  furnish  a  practising  ground  for  that  conception  of 
equality,  in  spite  of  much  in  educational  practice  that 
smacks  of  uniformity.  Our  education  should  cultivate 
those  elements  in  our  national  life  which  have  enriched 
it  from  the  beginning.  Our  motto,  One  from  Many, 
suggests  the  process;  it  is  a  unity  created  by  a  process 
of  drawing  out  and  recomposing  the  best  which  each 
group,  race,  individual,  has  to  offer. 

The  ideal  is  the  claim  of  individuality  as  the  supreme 
educational  end.  The  highest  form  of  democracy 
favors  individual  growth.  In  it  every  person  would 
be  free  to  draw  from  the  common  medium  what  his 


INITIATIVE  AND   AUTHORITY  263 

nature  needs,  and  to  enrich  the  common  medium  with 
what  is  most  characteristic  of  himself.  The  basis  is 
laid  in  this  ideal  for  a  shared  life.  The  individual  is 
not  lost  in  a  mystical  socialistic  soul;  the  pernicious 
theory  of  the  "melting-pot"  method  of  building  our 
authentic  Americanism  is  escaped.  The  wholesome 
and  practical  theory  of  an  associated  life,  built  upon  a 
programme  of  interdependent  relationships,  affords  a 
truer  basis  for  an  understanding  of  our  American  ideals 
and  social  organization.  In  the  last  analysis  this  inter- 
pretation of  nationality  rests  upon  free-operating  in- 
dividuals, grown  to  their  full  stature  as  soc^lly  efficient 
personalities.  In  this  conception  the  individual  is. 
priceless,  and  something  more  needs  to  be  said  about 
equality  and  liberty. 

A  Reinterpretation  of  Equality. — The  stirring  decla- 
ration of  the  founders  of  the  Republic  in  the  proposi- 
tion that  all  men  are  created  free  and  equal  gives 
us  pause.  It  does  not  help  the  situation  materially 
to  amend  the  proposition  to  read:  All  men  are  born 
free  and  equally  ignorant.  Perhaps  there  would  be 
substantial  agreement  if  the  period  is  placed  after  the 
word  horn.  For  men  are  born  no  more  free  than  wise 
or  strong.  All  are  born  with  a  nervous  system  capable 
of  unlimited  development  as  an  organism,  and  no  pre- 
sumption is  so  arrogant  as  that  which  attempts  to 
forecast  the  future  of  growing,  developing,  lazy,  in- 
different boys  and  girls.  When  it  is  proclaimed, 
now,  that  the  individual  is  free,  or  that  all  men  are 
equally  free,  we  hesitate,  and  begin  to  explain  just 
what  we  do  not  mean  by  liberty. 

It  did  not  require  the  modern  psychological  tech- 
nic  of  measurements  to  ascertain  the  fact  that  we  are 


264  DIRECTING  STUDY 

not  equal  in  any  immediate  finite  attainments.  Some 
truths  are  self-evident.  The  disposition,  however,  to 
refuse  to  accept  any  modern  interpretation  of  equality 
does  not  meet  with  ready  approval.  Some  reinterpre- 
tation  is  desired.  May  it  not  be  valid  to  hold  that 
human  beings  are  equal,  as  persons;*  and  further,  that 
all  normally  constituted  persons  are  potentially  free? 
This  would  mean  that  children  are  equal,  never  identi- 
cal, in  possibilities.  It  may  be  an  extreme  view  to 
hold  that  all  children  are  measureless  in  capacity; 
but  it  is,  withal,  a  wholesome  philosophy  for  the  edu- 
cator to  act  upon.  It  would  seem  that  now  with  the 
tools  and  method  of  modern  science  a  way  could  be 
•devised  by  which  personahty  could  be  released,  and 
that  they  who  are  the  "captains  of  their  own  souls" 
might  have  a  realizable  opportunity  of  becoming  the 
masters  of  their  own  fate.  The  schools  must  reckon 
with  the  loss  of  external  opportunities  in  the  passing 
of  the  frontier,  and  by  deliberate  procedure  seek  to 
develop  personal  power,  courage,  skill,  ability,  and 
initiative  in  every  individual. 

Freedom  vs.  Caprice  and  License. — The  caprice  of 
determined  ignorance  is  as  dangerous  to  true  liberty 
as  autocratic  authority  exercised  in  the  repression  of 
the  individual.  Freedom  is  never  idle,  narrowly  selfish, 
indifferent.  There  is  no  real  freedom  for  those  who 
resort  to  the  spurious  relinquishments  of  idleness,  self- 
complacency,  or  asceticism.  Plenty  of  men  would 
like  to  have  wealth,  scholarship,  some  coveted  goal  of 
values,  but  they  relinquish  the  effort;  they  stand  out- 
side the  ropes  watching  the  contest.     Plenty  of  men 

*  Hudson,  J.  W.,  The  College  and  the  New  America,  chap.  X,  "The 
Meaning  of  America." 


INITIATIVE  AND  AUTHORITY  265 

stop  thinking  to  escape  the  disturbance  of  their  be- 
liefs and,  by  anchoring  their  boats  in  a  safe  and  quiet 
harbor,  refuse  to  suffer  the  pain  of  honest  doubt. 
There  are  men,  too,  of  ascetic  disposition  who  retire 
from  further  effort  after  accepting  or  acquiring  some 
accredited  virtue  or  knowledge,  even  going  so  far  as 
to  give  up  what  they  have  a  right  to  in  order  to  secure 
some  supposititious  effect  upon  character,  forgetting 
that  character  is  constantly  formed  and  rejuvenated 
in  the  interactions  of  social  life.  The  schoolboy,  so 
frequently  an  artificial  product,  often  exhibits  symp- 
toms of  one  or  another  of  these  spurious  relinquish- 
ments. He  withholds  the  hand  that  would  pluck  the 
highest  honors;  he  may  become  stubbornly  self-com- 
placent through  the  painful  process  of  information; 
he  may  reach  a  state  when  he  thinks  he  is  or  has  been 
"educated."  These  categories  by  no  means  exhaust 
the  possibilities  of  explaining  disagreements  arising 
between  the  boy  and  the  school. 

Freedom  in  Work. — It  is  perhaps  a  bold  philosophy 
which  enables  one  to  hold  that  boys  and  girls  are  by 
nature  lovers  of  work.  In  a  certain  large  family,  well 
known  to  the  writer,  the  constitution  was  adopted, 
not  always  without  the  consent  of  the  governed,  and 
a  regimen  was  prescribed  by  a  real  father,  disillusioned 
by  any  easy-going  plan  of  letting  the  little  things 
flower  out  under  a  sentimental  general  indulgence. 
It  was  a  constitution,  not  so  much  one  of  power  and 
arbitrary  authority,  as  it  was  an  instrument,  an  hypo- 
thesis, in  which  power  was  exercised  and  varied  at 
the  discretion  of  the  members  of  that  institution. 

The  motto  which  served  as  an  ample  preamble  was: 
We  propose  to  work  in  this  home.     Upon  the  adop- 


266  DIRECTING  STUDY 

tion  of  that  constitution  there  was  a  joyous  freedom  in 
work;  secession  would  have  been  treason. 

There  was  no  blind,  unthinking  obedience  in  that 
experiment.  There  was  no  clashing  of  interests  in  the 
alternation  between  authority  and  initiative;  for  the 
conception  of  liberty  in  law  was  established  on  a  sure 
foundation.  It  was  no  compromise  between  authority 
and  freedom,  but  a  splendid  integration  of  functions. 

For  those  homes  to-day  in  which  the  parents  have 
abrogated  authority  and  have  become  obedient  to  their 
children  before  the  latter  reach  their  teens,  it  may 
be  remarked  that  the  constitution  may  be  adopted 
long  before  the  child  enters  school.  Dare  one  venture 
a  bit  of  advice,  aimed  at  all  those  parents  and  edu- 
cators who  go  a- tinkering  with  children  and  youth: 
adopt  the  constitution  and  stop  talking  about  it,  and 
go  forward  finding  zest  for  life  in  the  pleasure  of  at- 
tainment and  in  a  }ayo\i?>  freedom  in  work. 

Paradox  of  Freedom  and  Authority. — The  paradox 
of  initiative  and  authority,  of  freedom  and  social  re- 
straint is  an  attractive  thesis.  The  call  for  initiative 
was  never  so  urgent  as  it  is  to-day.  The  demand  for 
freedom  was  never  so  clear  and  strong  as  it  is  to-day. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  never  was  a  time  when  ra- 
tional authority  and  social  restraint  were  so  absolutely 
essential  to  life  and  progress  as  to-day.  The  intelligent 
person  will  not  fail  to  draw  a  valid  distinction  between 
the  normal  wish  "to  paddle  one's  own  canoe"  and  a 
neurotic  craving  for  relief  from  any  form  of  social  re- 
straint. 

The  alternation  between  initiative  and  authority 
presents  an  amusing  story.  The  young  Puritan  minis- 
ter in  his  abounding  enthusiasm  gave  expression  to  a 


INITIATIVE  AND  AUTHORITY  267 

charming  bit  of  philosophy  when  he  proclaimed  to 
the  world:  '^We  came  to  America  to  worship  God,  as 
we  please,  and  to  compel  everybody  else  to  do  the  same.^* 
A  dim  survival  of  this  doctrine  is  exhibited  to-day  in 
dealing  with  certain  social  problems  arising  out  of 
the  irresponsible  exercise  of  so-called  personal-liberty 
rights.  Applied  to  the  saloon,  for  example,  a  free 
translation  of  the  Puritan's  creed  might  read :  We  pro- 
pose to  be  decent,  as  we  please,  and  to  compel  every- 
body else  to  be  the  same.  Or,  to  come  at  once  to  the 
problem  of  directing  pupils  in  the  path  to  freedom,  it 
may  not  do  violence  to  the  spirit  of  those  stern  and 
hardy  pioneers  of  early  New  England  to  adopt  for 
every  classroom  the  proposition:  We  are  here,  boys  and 
girls,  to  work,  as  we  will,  and  to  compel  everybody  else 
to  do  the  same. 

The  free  action  of  the  responsible  individual  is  never 
characterized  by  caprice,  or  license,  or  intolerance, 
or  arrogance.  Even  the  fine  old  saying,  "You  shall 
know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free," 
is  not  regarded  as  final.  Now,  with  the  technic  of 
science  applied  to  every  phase  of  life,  it  is  just  as 
essential  to  act  upon  the  corollary  of  this  proposition: 
you  shall  know  the  truth  in  order  that  you  may  not  do 
as  you  please.  Any  real  boy  soon  learns  that  he  can- 
not do  as  he  pleases  with  the  applications  of  electricity. 
Nobody  now  does  as  he  pleases  about  contagious 
diseases.  It  is  a  notable  step  in  the  progress  of  civiliza- 
tion to  advance  from  the  irresponsible,  careless,  in- 
different practices  of  a  theory  tainted  with  any  form 
of  selfish  personal  liberty — a  do-as-you-please  policy — 
to  a  straightforward,  intelligent,  responsible  conduct 
arising  out  of  the  conception  that  the  free  man  must 


268  DIRECTING  STUDY 

do  as  he  wills.  This  higher  view  carries  with  it  a  des- 
perate responsibility.  Freedom  of  thought  implies  the 
responsibility  of  actually  doing  some  hard,  straight 
thinking. 

The  professor  is  hardly  licensed  to  indulge  in  un- 
limited monologue  merely  because  he  has  worked  out 
his  problem  more  elaborately  than  his  students.  The 
schoolmaster  finds  it  exceedingly  difficult  to  give  up 
status  and  an  ancient  habit  of  regarding  himself  as 
the  law.  We  still  hear  it  proclaimed  that  students 
can't  think;  that  before  students  can  think  they  must 
acquire  certain  dabs  of  accredited  knowledge  at  stated 
intervals,  as  if  we  were  first  to  collect  some  facts  and 
then  go  off  and  do  some  thinking. 

The  Pupil  in  the  German  System  of  Education. — 
Alexander,  in  visiting  the  Prussian  elementary  schools, 
remarks  that  in  observing  some  300  teachers  at  work 
not  a  question  was  asked  by  any  pupil.  The  German 
teacher  in  the  Volksschulen  explained  it  all  by  saying: 
"I  have  said  everything  about  the  subject  that  the 
child  needs  to  know.  My  explanations  have  been 
clear.  What  has  the  child  to  inquire  about?"  And 
again,  if  the  pupils  were  permitted  to  ask  questions: 
"Why,  that  would  destroy  the  discipline  and  regular 
order  of  the  lesson.  One  would  never  get  through 
with  the  work  planned."  * 

One  of  the  most  frequent  commands  in  the  German 
Volksschulen  is:  "Wiederholen  Sie  das"  ("Repeat 
that").  The  pupil  repeats,  recites,  reiterates  as  a  re- 
cipient. The  pupil  is  commanded  to  listen  to  what 
his  teacher  tells  him  in  order  that  he  may  tell  it  back 
again  as  it  is  told.    His  general  attitude  is  that  of  pas- 

*  Alexander,  Thomas,  The  Prussian  Elementary  Schools,  p.  277. 


INITIATIVE  AND   AUTHORITY  269 

sive  obedience,  unthinking  submission  to  authority, 
uncritical  acceptance  of  accredited  subject-matter. 
The  primary  emphasis  is  placed  upon  capacity  to  re- 
member. The  instructional  ideal  is  paramount.  With 
a  constant  appeal  to  memorization  and  reproduction 
there  can  be  little  creative  thinking.  There  may  be  a 
good  deal  of  rationalizing  in  accepted  beliefs  and  com- 
municated doctrines.  Rationalizing,  however,  is  un- 
critical and  is  for  the  most  part  merely  a  passionate 
defense  of  a  belief  already  accepted  by  tradition  or 
authority. 

The  reproduction  of  a  part  of  a  geography  lesson  is 
given  to  indicate  the  method  employed  in  the  Volks- 
schulen.  The  method  assured  the  results  desired  in 
Germany  by  the  ruling  class  prior  to  19 14.  While 
discipline  is  not  conducted  on  a  military  basis,  the 
teacher  in  Germany  commands  authority,  and  for  the 
most  part,  as  a  representative  of  the  state,  finds  mea- 
sures for  the  ready  enforcement  of  commands.  The 
rigidity  of  the  German  method  is  lodged  in  the  control 
of  subject-matter.  The  pupil  is  required  to  memo- 
rize what  he  is  told.  There  is  practically  no  oppor- 
tunity for  creative  thinking.  The  German  method,  at 
its  best,  does  not  seem  to  be  the  kind  of  thing  for 
America  to  imitate.  If  a  very  considerable  part  of  the 
authority  and  respect  which  the  German  teacher  en- 
joys is  removed,  then  an  imitation  of  such  a  procedure 
as  indicated  below  is  barren  and  empty.  A  recitation 
lesson  is  presented  on  page  175  from  an  American 
schoolroom.  A  comparison  would  be  illimiinating. 
The  latter  has  many  of  the  external  characteristics  of 
the  German  method;  yet  with  the  supports  of  the  Ger- 
man system  removed,  one  readily  appreciates  the  utter 


270  DIRECTING  STUDY 

collapse  of  the  procedure.  Moreover,  if  the  system 
works  admirably  in  the  realization  of  one  type  of  na- 
tional ideal,  it  does  not  follow  that  a  faithful  adapta- 
tion of  that  system  would  be  effective  in  the  realization 
of  a  totally  different  type  of  social  theory. 

Geography  III  Class,  Fifth  Year.    Boys  * 

Teacher.     Where  do  we  live? 

Pupil.     We  live  in  Europe. 

Teacher.    What  is  your  Fatherland? 

Pupil.     Germany  is  my  Fatherland. 

Teacher.     All  together — Germany  is  our  Fatherland. 

Pupils.     Germany  is  our  Fatherland. 

Teacher.  Germany  is  shut  in  by  many  other  lands.  What 
country  is  to  the  west? 

Pupil.     France. 

Teacher.  We  shall  hear  something  about  this  country  to- 
day.    What  country  are  we  to  hear  about  to-day? 

Pupil.     We  shall  hear  about  France  to-day. 

Teacher.     Once  more. 

Another  pupil.     We  shall  hear  about  France  to-day. 

Teacher.     All  together. 

Pupils.     We  shall  hear  about  France  to-day. 

Teacher.  What  is  the  name  of  this  country?  (Teacher  had 
written  the  name  on  the  board.) 

Pupil.     France. 

Teacher.  Who  has  ever  heard  of  it?  (Several  hands  were 
raised.)    What  have  you  heard? 

Pupil.     It  is  a  republic. 

Teacher.     All  together — France  is  a  republic. 

Pupils.     France  is  a  republic. 

Teacher.     What  is  a  republic? 

Pupil.     A  republic  has  no  king,  only  a  ruler. 

Teacher.     Not  exactly. 

Pupil.     France  is  not  niled  by  a  king,  but  by  a  president. 

How  utterly  lacking  such  a  procedure  is  in  a  practis- 
ing ground  for  morality !     Doctor  Foerster,  Germany's 
*  Alexander,  Thomas,  Prussian  Elementary  Schools,  p.  445  f. 


INITIATIVE  AND   AUTHORITY  271 

leading  educator,  condemned  that  system  before  the 
war.  It  is  related  that  he  favored  the  introduction  of 
the  best  features  of  the  English  system  of  education 
in  order  that  the  children  and  youth  of  Germany  might 
have  a  share  in  the  activities  of  the  school  and,  with 
Arnold,  of  Rugby,  work  toward  the  development  of 
personal  initiative  and  responsibility.  If  the  school 
dwells  exclusively  on  "deeds  as  done"  and  by  repressive, 
authoritative  measures  dogmatically  furnishes  the  edu- 
cational "abracadabra" — both  the  accredited  subject- 
matter  and  the  accredited  method — the  ground  for 
practicing  morality  is  cut  from  under  the  system  of 
education. 

German  education  confused  external  discipline  with 
self-control,  regimentation  with  corporate  spirit,  and 
concerned  itself  with  an  emphasis  upon  the  nation's 
duty  in  terms  of  "culture"  (Kultur)  rather  than  self- 
realization  and  character.  The  school  system  in  point 
of  organization  did  not  allow  the  child  to  make  his 
own  associations,  but  had  them  forced  upon  him. 

An  Example  of  a  School  Under  Complete  "  Free- 
dom."— Unthinking  obedience  is  not  desired  in  a 
democracy.  The  difficulty  in  working  out  an  integra- 
tion of  freedom  and  law  is  recognized.  The  school- 
master, as  the  personification  of  the  law,  has  too  often 
neglected  his  responsibilities  in  the  development  of 
freedom.  To  fly  to  the  opposite  extreme  and  totally 
disregard  law  in  the  hope  of  attaining  liberty  is  like- 
wise futUe.  Lyof  N.  Tolstoi  sketches  the  performances 
of  a  school  given  over  completely  to  the  doctrine  of 
unlimited  "freedom."  It  is  the  Yasnaya  Polyana 
school.*    The  pupils  in  this  school  sit  wherever  they 

*  Tolstoi,  Lyof  N.,  The  Long  ExUe,  pp.  164-300. 


272  DIRECTING  STUDY 

please.  There  is  much  external  disorder.  Under  an 
unrestrained  development  the  pupils  exercise  the  right 
to  get  up  and  go  home  if  they  feel  like  it.  No  one, 
not  even  the  teacher,  is  supposed  to  exercise  restraint. 
Schoolboy  fights  are  common.  The  employment  of 
force  by  the  teacher  is  thought  to  lack  reverence  for 
human  nature.  After  disorder  and  the  flow  of  animal 
spirits  (unrestrained)  better  and  more  stable  order 
than  we  imagine  seems  to  establish  itself.  The  in- 
triguing thing  about  this  school  is  the  fact  that  the 
pupils  all  want  to  learn  and  that  is  the  only  reason  they 
go  to  school.  It  is  reported  that  they  have  a  society 
united  by  this  single  impulse  to  learn,  and  that  they 
subject  themselves  to  whatever  laws  they  discover  to 
be  essential  to  their  own  well-being. 

These  two  extremes,  one  an  emphasis  upon  authority 
to  the  neglect  of  freedom,  the  other  an  emphasis  upon 
freedom  to  the  neglect,  at  least,  of  organized  law,  il- 
lustrate attempts  to  consider  authority  and  initiative 
as  separate  ideas.  We  shall  attempt  to  work  out  a 
practical  interaction  or  integration  of  these  two  princi- 
ples under  some  such  conception  as  liberty  under  law, 
or  liberty  armed  with  the  law. 

The  Problem  of  the  School  in  the  Development  of 
Creative  Thinking. — ^At  the  Chicago  meeting  of  the 
Department  of  Superintendence,  1919,  the  following 
appears  in  the  resolutions: 

The  schools  nourished  the  spirit  of  democracy  and  produced 
a  soldier  whose  initiative,  resourcefulness,  courage,  and  morale 
were  the  marvel  of  the  world,  etc. 

All  these  fine  traits  were  exhibited  by  our  gallant 
young  men.     What  we  should  really  be  concerned 


INITIATIVE  AND  AUTHORITY  273 

about  in  this  claim  is,  are  we,  in  our  schools,  responsible 
for  making  thinking  boys  and  girls?  Do  we  make 
deliberate  provision  for  training  of  initiative,  resource- 
fulness, inventiveness?  Or  have  we  in  America  un- 
wittingly imitated  the  rigidity  of  modem  Germanism 
in  which  the  tendency  is  to*sacrifice  life  to  the  majesty 
of  plan  and  precision,  and  to  subordinate  thought  to 
mechanical  logic?  The  implied  answer  is  that  we  are 
guilty  in  several  counts  in  the  indictment. 

In  one  of  the  splendid  high  schools  in  one  of  the 
three  highest  ranking  states  in  the  Ayer's  report,  the 
amazing  situation  disclosed  in  the  following  letter 
actually  obtains  in  democratic  America.  Let  this  re- 
markable teacher  reveal  to  the  reader  an  intimate  ac- 
count of  her  relations  with  a  typical  pedagogical  com- 
mandant who  stands  as  an  exponent  of  the  external 
mechanical  type  of  supervision  in  our  schools.  His 
name,  whether  supervisor,  inspector,  or  the  modern 
efl5ciency  expert,  if  not  legion,  is  unfortunately  very 
common  in  our  democratic,  education.  This  letter  de- 
picts a  sharp  antithesis  in  our  educational  practices 
between  two  irreconcilable  ideals: 

Dear  Mr.  : 

I  am  in  trouble  and  jxist  must  tell  some  one  about  it,  so  if 
you  don't  mind  I'll  turn  to  you.  I've  been  teaching  here  a  little 
over  two  weeks,  English  and  Art,  departmental  work — and  I've 
tried  to  establish  a  "must  be,"  and  still  remember  to  get  down 
with  the  pupils.  We've  been  a  prospecting  party,  these  pupUs 
and  I,  and  we  have  helped  each  other,  but  we  have  not  always 
gone  in  order.  One  day  the  supervisor  came  in  when  we  were 
all  working  at  the  board,  thirty-seven  of  us.  One  in  each  group 
of  six  was  watching  for  mistakes  in  the  other  five  instead  of  writ- 
ing. Lively  discussions  over  certain  mistakes  were  taking  place 
in  whispers  and  undertones.    I  was  having  a  life-size  yo6  settling 


274  DIRECTING  STUDY 

disputes  and  flying  from  group  to  group  to  urge  them  to  maxi- 
mum endeavor.  I  didn't  have  time  to  talk  to  the  principal  and 
there  was  no  orderly  recitation  for  him  to  listen  to;  and  so  he 
left,  soon. 

Next  day  he  came  into  an  art  class.  Two  boys  were  working 
out  a  poster  design  in  one  corner  on  board,  and,  I  remember, 
talking  out  loud.  Three  or  fouf  were  practising  printing  on  the 
board,  and  at  least  a  dozen  were  gathered  around  me  learning 
a  shading  stroke.  Well,  to  make  a  long  story  short,  he  walked 
out.  But  to-day  in  teacher's  meeting  he  lectured  for  an  hour 
on  discipline  and  order,  and  he  looked  straight  at  me  and  said: 
"I've  noticed  that  some  of  you  have  beautiful  theories  of  de- 
veloping individuality  and  using  the  new-fangled  'method'  of 
letting  the  children  do  as  they  please,  but  I  want  you  to  under- 
stand that  we  can't  have  it  in  this  school — we  must  have  uni- 
form rules,  etc.,  etc."  You  know  what  he  said,  and  I  hope  you 
know  my  blood  boUed !  He  even  told  us  absolutely  not  to  let 
a  pupU  say  one  word  without  raising  his  hand —  There  is  lots 
more,  but  you  have  no  doubt  heard  this  story  before,  so  I  won't 
inflict  it  upon  you.  But  to-night  I  am  heartsick.  I've  so  in- 
corporated ideas  of  socialized  procedure  into  my  thinking  that 

they  are  there  to  stay.    Thanks  to  you,  Mr. .    I  don't  want 

any  tombstone  order  in  my  classes,  nor  any  "methods,"  but  can 
I  defy  that  man? 

Just  writing  this  to  you  has  given  me  courage  to  dare,  even 
though  I  don't  send  this  letter!  Perhaps  I  shall  send  it,  and 
if  I  do  you  will  know  that  I  am  going  to  try  to  "keep  the  faith." 
I  feel  like  a  missionary  in  a  foreign  land,  or  a  bug  crawling  about 
under  a  bottle.  But  I  can  see  through  the  bottle,  and  get  a  vision 
of  what's  beyond,  thank  goodness ! 

This  has  done  me  much  good  and  I  hope  you  haven't  minded. 
Very  sincerely. 


The  following  statement  (modified  slightly)  illumi- 
nates this  practice: 

A  very  serious  mistake  is  being  made  in  both  schools  and 
colleges  in  the  attempt  to  establish  uniform  standards  and  thus 
seem  to  make  all  pupils  alike  or  to  introduce  different  levels  of 


INITIATIVE  AND   AUTHORITY  275 

group  mediocrity.  The  startling  degree  of  uniformity  and  medi- 
ocrity attained  is  evidence  of  the  deadening  influence  of  grades 
and  tests.  So  far  American  Educators  have  shown  very  little 
regard  for  cultivating  the  influences  which  tend  to  strengthen 
original  thinking  and  the  formation  of  independent  judgments 
upon  intellectual  subjects.  Now  with  scientific  attention  paid 
to  individual  differences  we  may  hope  for  a  decided  change  in 
opinion  in  regard  to  the  conventional  standardization  of  think- 
ing which  has  been  such  a  hindrance  to  progress.* 

Practices  Surviving  Inconsistent  with  our  Phi- 
losophy of  Life. — It  remains  to  work  out  the  paradox; 
for  the  spirit  of  tyranny  and  the  spirit  of  freedom  are 
hopelessly  irreconcilable.  Beating  a  boy  one  minute 
and  telling  him  the  next  that  he  is  the  responsible 
master  of  his  own  destiny  never  did  work  well;  it  works 
much  less  eflfectively  to-day  than  ever  before.  Usually 
our  rewards  and  prizes  are,  in  effect,  inverted  punish- 
ments. 

The  schoolmaster  has  always  been  resourceful  in 
the  invention  of  pedagogical  devils.  To  be  sure  we 
have  advanced  far  beyond  the  crude  methods  of  the 
old  disciplinarian  whose  primary  object  was  to  keep 
school  and  hold  the  class.  The  appeal  to-day  is  more 
and  more  coming  to  be  based  upon  work,  pleasure  in 
achievement,  zest  for  life. 

"The  militarist  ideal  appeals  not  only  to  the  inter- 
ested parties  in  the  governing  classes  but  also  to  in- 
competent teachers,  and  that  is  a  further  source  of 
danger.  The  real  educationist  demands  individuality 
of  treatment  and  insight  into  the  personal  needs  of 
every  pupil,  the  militarist  (the  disciplinarian)  demands 
nothing  but  regimentation  and  teaching  by  rule — the 
latter  so  attractive  to  the  incompetent  teacher."  f 

*  Paton,  Human  Behavior,  p.  434. 

t  Langdon-Davies,  John,  Militarism  in  Education,  p.  106. 


276  DIRECTING  STUDY 

The  tired  and  incompetent  teachers  find  it  necessary 
to  resort  to  methods  of  external  discipline.  For  them 
the  usual  thing  is  to  start  with  the  proposition  that 
order  is  heaven's  first  law.  For  those  who  desire  the 
development  of  self-control  and  the  corporate  spirit, 
heaven's  first  law  is  work.  Order  follows  out  of  the 
work  spirit. 

Some  safe  steps  have  been  taken  in  the  direction  of 
a  fruitful  socialization  of  procedure  in  which  it  is  main- 
tained that  it  is  more  important  to  assist  pupils  toward 
freedom  in  holding  themselves  than  to  "hold  the  class" 
in  order,  primarily  for  the  sake  of  order. 

Yet  we  still  resort,  too  often,  to  primitive  threats 
such  as  failure  in  the  course,  the  danger  of  not  being 
promoted,  the  conference  hour  as  a  means  of  correc- 
tion, or,  as  a  last  resort,  dismissal  from  the  class  or 
school,  little  realizing  that  we  do  not  improve  teach- 
ing by  dismissing  pupils  from  the  class  or  school.  The 
particular  kind  of  operation  hastily  decided  upon  is 
not  always  performed  with  the  privacy  that  the  exi- 
gencies of  the  case  would  seem  to  warrant.  There  is 
a  persistence  in  the  claims  of  the  efficacy  of  the  doc- 
trine which  seems  to  inhere  in  making  some  recalcitrant 
boy  the  sacrificial  goat.  Some  vicarious  effect  upon 
the  group  is  sought  in  the  open  and  direct  method  of 
operating  on  the  "bad"  boy.  Scolding  Tom  before 
the  class  serves  to  reaffirm  the  conviction  of  Tom's 
father  who  asseverates  that  Tom  will  do  anything  but 
work.  Tom  is  usually  corrupted  to  the  very  roots 
through  lack  of  home  training  and  perhaps  through 
repressive  school  training  as  well. 

The  trite  story  of  Bill  and  his  schoolmaster  may 
serve  "to  adorn  a  tale  and  point  a  moral."     It  was 


INITIATIVE  AND  AUTHORITY  277 

always  open  season  for  the  schoolmaster  in  Bill's  case. 
Bill,  a  "near"  dunce  in  the  estimation  of  the  school- 
master (like  Darwin,  Edison,  Watt,  Hume,  Scott, 
and  a  long  line  of  illustrious  men  and  women),*  was 
conspicuously  labelled  with  the  pedagogical  scarlet 
letter.  On  one  occasion  the  schoolmaster  yelled  at 
Bill  in  thundering  tones,  saying:  "Bill,  you  lazy  boy, 
don't  you  know  Lincoln  at  your  age  was  earning  his 
own  Hving?"  "Yes,  I  do,"  retorted  Bill,  "and  at  your 
age,  sir,  Lincoln  was  President  of  the  United  States." 
The  subject  of  this  chapter  is,  in  itself,  so  important 
that  it  is  felt  by  the  author  that  he  might  be  permitted 
to  insert  here,  by  way  of  foot-note,  a  letter  on  "Rais- 
ing Boys."  It  has  been  printed  in  the  Wisconsin  Jour- 
nal of  Education.  It  was  written  as  a  suggestion  to 
all  those  who  go  a-tinkering  with  this  delicate  problem 
of  educating  boys.  Perhaps  the  privilege  of  the  first 
personal  pronoun,  a  privilege  reserved  for  the  preface, 
will  be  granted  in  this  connection.  The  letter  may  be 
an  appropriate  summary  of  the  chapter. 

Raising  Boys 

In  order  to  attain  the  high  place  of  democratic  freedom,  all 
men  and  women  must  become  self-active,  responsible  persons. 

There  must  be  an  instant  and  willing  obedience,  not  alone  to 
rightly  constituted  authority  in  home,  school,  and  government, 
but  in  the  daily  task,  whatever  it  is.  A  mtist  be  is  imperative 
in  every  personality. 

Delayed  obedience  to  either  rightly  constituted  authority  or 
to  this  must  be  is  fatal. 

Whenever  the  issue  is,  "This  thing  shall  or  must  be  done," 
then  there  ought  to  be  no  hesitancy  whatever  in  the  decision. 

*  See  Swift,  Mind  in  the  Making,  chap.  I.  The  reader  will  find  here 
a  wholesome  tx)nic  and  a  needed  antidote  in  facing  the  problem  of  edu- 
cating the  youth  of  the  nation. 


278  DIRECTING  STUDY 

Obedience  to  that  must  not  be  argued.  It  is  the  instant  and 
willing  obedience  here  that  gives  us  the  very  core  and  heart  of 
the  gentleman.  He  never  talks  back,  he  never  whines,  he  never 
complains  about  the  proposition  "It  shall  be  done,  or  it  must 
be  done." 

The  must  he  in  its  best  form  arises  within  the  person.  He  sees 
his  duty  and  responds  with  instant  and  willing  obedience  to 
this  inner  mandate.  This  is  the  object  of  the  external  mandate 
of  authority.    It  must  lead  to  this  inner  response  and  attitude. 

To  permit  delay  in  either  case  is  to  lead  to  irresponsibility, 
indifference,  and,  ultimately,  dishonesty. 

Lesson  I. — If  it  is  a  matter  then:  "To-day  the  lawn  must  be 
mowed,"  or  "This  work  must  be  done  now,"  or  "The  studying 
of  this  subject  must  be  begun  regularly  at  7.30,"  or  "You  may 
not  go  on  the  lake" — all  such  situations  must  not  be  argued; 
it  is  instant  and  willing  obedience  then  and  there  that  is  abso- 
lutely imperative. 

To  permit  delay  in  the  matter  of  obedience  leads  inevitably 
to  a  shirking  of  responsibility,  to  shiftless  procrastination,  to 
"back  talk"  and  bickering,  and  all  sorts  of  exasperating  situa- 
tions. 

The  other  side  of  constructive  attitudes  is  coming.  Just  now 
the  foundation  must  be  laid  for  the  "free"  execution  of  the 
pianist,  and  for  that,  any  trained  and  expert  ability.  The  home 
and  the  school  should  have  Lesson  I,  if  it  is  needed,  very  early 
and  then  stop  talking  about  it. 

One  time  my  father  told  me  to  go  out  and  get  a  switch.  He 
found  that  I  had  burned  my  boots.  I  was  eight  years  old.  The 
morning  was  bitter  cold.  I  left  the  house  and  went  into  the 
barn  and  crawled  way  back  in  the  wheat-bin.  Father  became 
concerned  and  went  out  and  called  me.  I  would  not  answer. 
When  he  found  me  I  was  almost  frozen  stiff.  I  was  abundantly 
warm  by  the  time  I  got  to  the  house.  Father  whipped  me  aU 
the  way  with  a  flexible  strip  of  board.  He  did  not  whip  me  be- 
cause I  burned  my  boots,  but  because  I  refused  to  answer  him. 
That  was  a  lesson  I  never  forgot.  It  was  always  made  clear 
that  we  were  never  punished  except  for  one  thing,  disobedience. 
There  was  transfer  of  training  in  this  experience  not  alone  for 
myself  in  this  case,  where  there  was  an  obvious  immediacy, 
but  also  for  seven  brothers  and  sisters  who  envisaged  the  experi- 


INITIATIVE  AND  AUTHORITY  279 

ence  by  the  exercise  of  their  powers  of  abstraction  and  imagina- 
tion. 

Now,  the  constructive  work  lies  in  freedom  in  work.  "The 
lawn  is  to  be  mowed  to-day."  No  debate  arises  on  that  funda- 
mental issue.  We  may  talk  about  it  after  unqualified  assent, 
i.  e.,  after  the  "must  Be"  is  settled.  Then  it  is  perfectly  proper 
and  wholesome  to  go  into  plans  about  mowing  the  lawn,  about 
what  part  of  it  may  be  done  thus  and  so.  Freedom  in  work  is 
just  as  imperative  as  instant  and  willing  assent  to  both  the  ex- 
ternal and  the  self-initiated  mandates. 

Lesson  II. — This  proposition,  described  in  Lesson  I,  must  be 
clearly  differentiated  from  another  type  of  conduct.  When  the 
home  or  school  asks,  "Shall  we  do  thus  and  so?"  "Would  it 
be  a  good  plan  to  mow  the  lawn  to-day?"  "Would  it  not  be 
a  good  idea  to  spend  an  hour  a  day  in  reading?" — all  this  lies 
in  a  totally  different  realm.  Debate  is  elicited  by  the  very  na- 
ture of  the  question.  "John,  don't  you  think  it  would  be  a  good 
plan  to  study  chemistry  next  year?"  or  "To  build  a  hog  house 
by  the  bam?"  All  such  language  invites  debate  and  reaction. 
The  outcome  is  not  the  essential  matter  here.  John  is  growing 
in  power  of  self-direction  if  he  wins  in  the  argument  on  the  nega- 
tive side.  The  adolescent  needs  to  express  himself  within  Les- 
son II.  Parents  and  teachers  should  assist  boys  and  girls  in  the 
adventiu"e  of  becoming  self-active,  responsible  men  and  women. 
The  argument  here  is  not  mere  idle  talk.  Youth  needs  many 
and  varied  opportunities  for  wholesome  self-expression.  Lesson 
I  has  been  learned.  Perhaps  it  may  be  necessary  to  recall  it 
once  in  a  great  many  instances  while  practice  is  being  carried 
on  in  Lesson  II.  Not  infrequently  Lesson  I  is  interpreted  to 
mean  passivity.  We  do  not  want  unthinking  obedience.  It  is 
well  to  study  with  great  care  the  form  of  language  employed  in 
Lessons  I  and  II.  In  the  former  the  "must  be"  is  employed; 
in  the  latter  it  is  a  "shall  we?"  or  "woidd  you  like?"  etc.  The 
latter  invites  challenge,  discussion,  and  self-expression. 

Lesson  III. — I  think  there  is  still  a  higher  realm,  one  that 
can  be  attained  very  early  in  life  after  the  first  proposition  is 
settled,  i.  e.,  after  the  "constitution  is  adopted." 

When  I  was  thirteen  years  old  father  said  to  me:  "You  may 
take  the  fidl  responsibility  for  the  crops  on  fifty  acres."  I  did 
it,  and  I  did  practically  all  the  work,  too,  up  to  harvest-time. 


280  DIRECTING  STUDY 

My  father  was  sure  that  I  would  come  to  him  in  a  dilemma. 
He  perhaps  did  not  agree  with  me  in  every  detail.  That  did 
not  matter  so  much.  Now  here  is  a  proposition  which  to  my 
thinking  is  absolutely  essential  in  the  enterprise  of  developing 
personal  power,  self-initiative,  self-respect,  pride,  self-mastery, 
independence,  and  that  which  insures  a  "free"  execution  in 
any  direction,  in  profession,  business,  or  skill. 

To  stop  with  mere  obedience  to  external  mandates  will  not 
do  any  longer  in  our  form  of  life. 

To  fail  to  develop  from  within  that  sense  of  a  must  be  is 
a  tragedy. 

Freedom  in  work  is  the  only  true  basis  of  growth.  This  applies 
to  all  sorts  of  work  and  situations,  in  the  home,  in  school,  on 
the  farm,  in  factory,  in  profession.  But  it  is  freedom  in  work, 
never  a  disposition  to  delay  or  refuse  to  work,  that  must  be  made 
crystal  clear. 

I  do  not  believe  in  imposing  any  task  simply  for  the  sake  of 
exacting  obedience.  It  is  unwise  to  provoke  situations  in  which 
the  issues  of  discipline  are  confused.  The  Egyptian  priests  spent 
hours  every  day  watering  dry  sticks  planted  in  straight  rows  in 
large  fields.  They  did  it  to  discipline  themselves.  We  are  com- 
mitted to  something  better.  We  want  grain  or  trees  planted 
there  instead  of  dry  sticks.  The  watering  and  the  work  then 
have  a  purpose  beyond  formal  discipline  and  stupid  routine. 

But  what  we  have  got  to  correct  in  our  American  life  is  this: 

1.  "A  disregard  of  discipline  as  a  virtue  too  closely  allied  to 

servility." 

2.  "A  contempt  for  obedience  as  seeming  to  smack  of  do- 

cility." 
And  while  correcting  our  life  in  these  two  respects  we  must 
obviate  the  dilemma  of  unthinking  obedience.    "The  slave  has 
always  been  infatuated  with  his  servilities."    Our  task  must  be 
the  ordered  relation  of  parts  in  a  purposive  whole. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

SUCCESSES  AND  FAILURES  IN  SCHOOL  WORK 

Theory  of  Success. — "In  every  child  is  the  stufiF  of 
aristocracy.  By  that  we  mean  the  high  potentiality 
of  childhood  and  youth  for  uprise  or  downslide,  ac- 
cording to  circumstance  and  opportunity.  A  child's 
mimetic  powers  are  tuned  to  the  pitch  prevailing  in 
whatever  concert-room  it  happens  to  be  an  occupant 
of.  Its  creative  genius  moulds  its  own  personality  on 
the  model  of  whatever  performances  happen  to  be 
staged  there"  (page  217). 

In  all  forms  of  life  from  the  lowest  simple  cell-life 
to  the  human — to  the  terminal  buds  of  cosmic  evolu- 
tion, in  every  form  of  life — there  is  first  of  all  a  dis- 
position, with  characteristic  habits,  to  grow.  This  is 
true  of  the  terminal  branch  of  the  grape-vine;  it  is 
true  of  the  human  sprout.  Growth  is  insured  along 
the  line  of  successful  experiment.  By  pruning,  by 
cultivation,  by  fertilization,  and  by  control  of  environ- 
ment certain  objectives  may  be  attained.  Success  is 
largely  2i  function  of  effort,  of  exercise,  not  alone  a  func- 
tion of  structure.  Hence,  it  is  not  what  is  originally 
given  that  should  be  accepted  and  paid  heed  to,  but 
rather  what  happens  after  the  thing  has  been  sub- 
jected to  this  and  that  situation,  to  this  and  that  ex- 
perimental control.  In  short,  if  the  organism  needs  an 
eye,  it  grows  one.  This  view  of  life  gains  a  new  signif- 
icance in  the  realm  of  conscious  will. 

In  this  statement  of  possibilities  and  outcomes  the 

281 


282  DIRECTING  STUDY 

educator  swings  out  boldly  under  a  new  scientific  hu- 
manism founded  upon  the  theory  of  self-completion. 
The  old  Neo-Darwinian  doctrine  of  the  survival  theory 
is  useful  in  a  social  interpretation  of  life  in  which  a 
mechanical  conception  prevails.  In  that  theory  the 
individual  is  a  machine,  a  thing  to  be  discovered  and 
trained  to  serve  ends  set  up  by  authority.  A  selected 
group  is  endowed  with  power  to  discover  the  partic- 
ular abilities  of  the  common  folk,  train  them  for  what 
they  are  fit  for,  and  defend  the  status  quo  at  all  costs. 
There  is  another  theory  of  society.  It  is  the  demo- 
cratic conception.  Man  is  not  a  tool,  an  animal,  a 
servant,  or  a  machine.  He  counts  and  has  absolute 
worth  as  an  individual.  Being  a  living,  conscious, 
willing  personality,  he  is  to  discover  the  purpose  of  his 
Ufa. 

There  has  come  a  reaction  from  the  belief  in  inborn  heredity 
as  the  main  factor  in  social  evolution;  it  has  been  proved  that 
social  heredity,  or  the  environment  which  rests  on  the  child, 
is  of  far  greater  importance  than  has  hitherto  been  realized. 
On  the  one  hand,  there  is  the  slow  evolution  due  to  changes  passed 
from  parent  to  child  through  many  generations,  a  process  which 
has  been  responsible  for  the  biological  evolution  of  the  animal 
kingdom;  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  the  possibility  of  a  much 
faster  social  evolution  due  to  the  power  to  change  the  emotional 
environment  of  the  children  of  a  nation. 

The  ruling  class  of  Japan  determined  for  their  own  good  that 
Japan  should  become  a  commercially  wealthy  nation.  To  do 
this  it  was  necessary  to  recast  the  whole  system  of  education 
by  suffusing  it  with  a  new  spirit. 

By  collectively  submitting  themselves  with  full  intent  to  a 
new  kind  of  social  inheritance  the  Japanese  people  attained  in 
less  than  two  generations  to  a  position  which  it  has  taken  the 
principal  Occidental  nations  centuries  of  stress  to  reach  in  the 
ordinary  process  of  development.* 

*  Langdon-Davies,  John,  Militarism  in  Educaiion,  p.  1 1  jf . 


SUCCESSES  AND   FAILURES  283 

In  the  case  of  Japan  it  would  appear  that  the  old 
saying  requires  an  additional  word  {nisi)  to  make  it 
read  Natura  fecit  nihil  nisi  (except)  per  saltum* 

This  new  giant  of  Western  Power  entered  the  arena 
for  a  part  in  the  competitive  commercialism  of  the 
world  when  she  exchanged  contemplation  of  the  stars 
of  her  Eastern  night,  her  tranquillity  of  spirit,  and  a 
refined  and  artistic  enjoyment  of  life  for  another  ideal. 
Education  is  far  more  than  the  training  of  the  intel- 
lect. It  is  also  a  training  of  the  emotions  to  react  to 
special  ideals.  The  educator  should  not  insist  on  mak- 
ing a  sociological  truth  of  the  physiological  doctrines 
of  Darwin. t 

It  is  more  than  questionable  whether,  except  as  regards  the 
stamping  out  of  pathological  taints  (which  are  amenable  to 
other  remedies),  eugenists,  if  they  were  given  carie  blanche, 
could  achieve  anything  desirable.  But  the  evolutionary  prod- 
ucts which  are  dependent  upon  physiological  heredity  are  alto- 
gether inconsiderable  compared  with  those  which  are  not  de- 
pendent upon  that  process.  There  is  something  tragically  pa- 
thetic in  the  zeal  displayed  for  improving  the  race  by  the  con- 
trol of  physiological  heredity,  while  at  the  same  time  the  means 
by  which  the  products  of  human  evolution  are  in  fact  trans- 
mitted, and  which  are  directly  and  easily  amenable  to  human 
forethought  and  management,  are  under  present  conditions, 
and  under  a  so-termed  "system  of  education"  of  almost  troglo- 
dytic  crudity,  abandoned  to  the  mercy  of  chance,  or  rather  stulti- 
fied and  perverted  to  defeat  the  ends  of  evolution. 

If  we  are  superior  to  our  woad-painted  ancestors,  it  is  not  so 
much  that  we  are  born  with  higher  qualities,  but  that  we  are 
bom  in  a  human  environment  in  which  the  achieved  results  of 
rational  thought  have  been  from  generation  to  generation  handed 
down.  And  those  very  qualities  which  are  physiological  and 
hereditary  are  themselves  correlated  with  conditions  arising 

*  "Nature  has  made  nothing  except  by  a  leap." 
t  Cooley,  C.  H.,  Social  Progress. 


284  DIRECTING   STUDY 

from  the  accumulated  products  of  rational  power  and  human 
control.  So  that  even  if  those  slight  physiological  modifications 
could  be  cultivated,  while  non-physiological  progress  was  ar- 
rested through  entire  neglect,  the  improvement  of  those  slight 
products  themselves  would  tend  to  cease  through  the  drying  up 
of  the  source  whence  flow  the  conditions  which  produced  them. 

The  products  of  human  evolution  are  not  included  in  the 
characters  which  physiological  heredity  transmits.  The  human 
world  in  all  its  aspects,  including  every  race  and  nation  which 
exercises  an  influence  over  others,  which  exchanges  thought, 
opinions,  and  knowledge,  contributes  arts  and  inventions,  in- 
cluding every  current  estimate  and  conception,  and  every  revo- 
lutionary thought,  the  customs,  manners,  and  habit  which  are 
in  vogue,  the  social  organization  which  obtains,  all  the  condi- 
tions arising  out  of  it,  the  forms  of  government,  the  institutions, 
the  beliefs,  and  above  all  the  types  and  systems  of  ideas,  the 
standards  of  honor  and  of  conduct,  the  point  of  view,  the  norms 
of  judgment,  the  sanctions,  biases,  and  prejudices  shaped  in 
accordance  with  the  relations  and  interests  attaching  to  those 
conditions,  that  human  environment  which  supplies  all  the  con- 
tents and  pwjwers,  shapes  all  the  tendencies  of  every  mind  which 
is  born  and  matures  in  its  midst — that  is  the  carrier  of  heredity 
in  human  evolution.* 

Nothing  is  more  unfortunate  than  the  notion  now  so  prevalent 
that  a  mere  acquaintance  with  the  formal  details  in  the  technic 
of  examination  is  sufficient  guaranty  that  accurate  information 
will  be  obtained.  At  present  the  disadvantage  of  placing  too 
much  confidence  in  methods  is  illustrated  by  the  indiscriminate 
application  of  the  so-called  intelligence  tests.  These  tests  are 
often  made  by  persons  who  have  had  no  clinical  experience  in 
observing  human  nature,  and  they  are  therefore  not  competent 
either  to  select  the  cases  in  which  satisfactory  results  can  be 
obtained  or  to  express  a  critical  judgment  upon  the  relative 
value  of  the  different  data. 

It  is  surprising  how  far  academic  psychologists  without  any 
accurate  knowledge  of  the  machinery  concerned  in  the  emo- 
tional adjustments  will  attempt  to  go  in  interpreting  data  gath- 
ered from  intelligence  tests.    The  penchant  to  stretch  a  fact  so 

*  Briffault,  Robert,  The  Making  of  Humanity,  p.  62  J'. 


SUCCESSES  AND   FAILURES  285 

far  as  to  obliterate  any  trace  of  incompleteness  in  a  history  is  a 
constant  source  of  error.* 

The  current  opinion  that  creative  genius  is  a  quality 
reserved  for  God's  elect,  the  lad  o'  parts,  is  hard  to 
combat.  A.  Clutton-Brock  f  reminds  us  that  every 
person  feels  he  has  an  unrealized  genius,  a  baffled  crea- 
tive faculty  which  might  some  day  surprise  a  stupid 
world.  In  every  one  is  an  unexpressed  genius,  and  if 
only  by  some  talisman,  by  some  opportunity,  we  were 
suddenly  forced  to  speak  out  the  truth,  we  should  all 
proclaim  our  genius  without  listening  to  each  other- 
He  says:  "I  believe  in  it  for  myself,  believe  that  it 
does  exist,  not  only  in  myself,  but  in  all  men,  and  the 
men  of  acknowledged  genius  are  those  who  have  found 
a  technic  for  realizing  it.  I  say  realizing,  because, 
until  it  is  expressed  in  some  kind  of  action,  it  does  not 
fully  exist;  and  the  egos  of  most  of  us  are  exorbitant, 
however  much  we  may  suppress  their  outward  mani- 
festations, because  they  do  not  succeed  in  getting 
themselves  born.  The  word  is  never  made  flesh;  we 
stammer  and  bluster  with  it.  We  seethe  and  simmer 
within;  and  though  we  may  submit  to  a  life  of  routine 
and  suppression,  the  submission  is  not  the  whole  self;  it 
is  imposed  upon  us  by  the  struggle  for  life  and  for  busi- 
ness purposes  and,  unknown  to  ourselves,  the  exorbi- 
tant, because  unexpressed,  unsatisfied  ego  finds  a  vent 
somehow  and  somewhere." 

It  would  seem  to  be  begging  the  question  to  allege 
that  genius  eludes  measurement,  if  it  turns  out  that 
creative  thinking  is  a  possibility  for  all  normally  con- 

*  Paton,  Stewart,  Human  Behavior,  p.  374. 

t  A.  Clutton-Brock,  Atlantic  Monthly,  vol.  128,  no.  6,  p.  727,  "Pooled 
Self-Esteem." 


286  DIRECTING  STUDY 

stituted  individuals.  May  we  not  need  a  new  technic 
that  will  transcend  mere  rationalizing — that  form  of 
thinking  which  is  concerned  with  a  defense  of  a  belief 
already  accepted  ?  The  essence  of  the  scientific  method 
is  creative  thinking.  Perhaps  our  task  in  this  twentieth 
century  is  the  development  of  the  science  of  human 
behavior  in  educational  practice  to  the  point  of 
making  it  possible  to  realize  genius  in  every  normal 
person. 

These  quotations  are  not  presented  for  the  purpose 
of  rationalizing  a  belief  already  arrived  at  by  the  au- 
thor; the  real  purpose  is  to  suggest  a  line  of  investiga- 
tion into  a  vast  body  of  biological  and  sociological 
material  pointing  to  a  theory  of  success  on  the  basis 
of  experimentation  in  the  direction  of  self-expression. 
The  common  belief  is  that  a  Ford  car  is  just  a  Ford 
and  nothing  more;  that  it  is  folly  to  expect  the  trans- 
mutation of  it  into  a  Packard.  The  argument  by  an- 
alogy is  full  of  fallacies  when  applied  to  human  beings. 
It  commits  us  again  to  a  hopeless  predestination.  The 
major  fact  is  automohility ;  the  individual  expressions 
of  it  are  dependent  upon  circumstances.  Each  make 
of  car,  each  individual  car,  runs  under  its  own  power. 
The  materials  which  are  utilized  in  the  making  of  a 
given  car  might  have  been  assembled  (constructed) 
in  any  one  of  a  number  of  ways.  Moreover,  the  com- 
mon highway  is  used  by  all  the  cars,  each  gripping 
whatever  is  essential  in  its  own  motion.  The  use- 
fulness of  the  car  is  not  preordained;  in  fact,  it  is  ab- 
surd to  make  comparisons  to  the  effect  that  one  car 
is  more  useful  than  another.  The  Ford  may  arrive 
ahead  of  its  aristocratic  competitor  in  the  journey; 
it  may  have  to  pull  a  fine,  big  comrade  out  of  the  ditch. 


SUCCESSES  AND  FAILURES  287 

All  use  the  common  highway,  and  no  one  is  disgraced 
by  the  presence  of  another.  For  automohility  let  us 
rationalize  a,  bit,  too,  by  substituting  humanity  and 
work  out  the  relations  of  individuals  in  terms  of  a 
democratic  order. 

The  problem  is  not  to  be  stated  in  terms  of  any 
standardization  of  mediocrity.  Endless  differentiation 
ought  to  be  expected.  This  is  not  a  plea  for  equality 
of  anything  save  equality  of  opportunity  for  a  full 
life,  abundantly  expressed  in  some  direction.  It  is 
not  a  denial  of  the  assumptions  of  original  character- 
istic traits;  it  is  rather  a  shift  of  emphasis  over  to  the 
proposition  that  any  true  liberty  is  an  achievement, 
not  a  donation.  Whatever  power  (or  freedom)  one 
has  at  any  time  is  the  power  (or  talent)  he  has  worked 
up  to. 

We  now  need  pediatric  clinics  in  which  normal  chil- 
dren and  youth  inay  be  given  opportunity  for  a  full- 
orbed  development.  In  this  new  clinic  the  histologist, 
the  psychiatrist,  the  psychologist,  and  the  educator 
should  work  together  in  the  quest  of  a  scientific  de- 
velopment of  human  powers.  We  ought  to  know  now 
that  it  is  abominably  unjust  to  scold  and  punish  a 
child  who  is  in  the  grip  of  a  set  of  defense  mechanisms 
quite  beyond  his  control  for  the  time  being. 

We  shall  soon  be  able  to  cope  with  all  sorts  of  pro- 
tective coloration  resorted  to  by  boys  and  girls  in  their 
ways  of  adapting  themselves  to  the  artificial  standards 
devised  by  schools  and  colleges.  We  ought  to  be  able 
to  institute  an  environment  in  which  there  could  be 
the  full  release  of  all  the  wholesome  potentialities  of 
children  and  youth.  Real  guidance  and  direction  may 
soon  become  a  scientific  achievement.    It  will  be  none 


288  DIRECTING  STUDY 

the  less  humanistic  in  spirit  when  rationality  may  be 
had  in  dealing  with  human  behavior. 

Empirical  Pedagogy  and  Uncritical  Philosophy. — In 
our  attempts  to  explain  the  causes  and  conditions  of 
successes  and  failures  we  are  still  in  the  Dark  Ages  of 
primitive  pedagogy.  The  drag  of  inertia  of  tradition 
is  nowhere  so  evident. 

The  boy  succeeds  in  Latin,  fails  in  algebra,  does  in- 
differently well  in  music.  Why  is  it  so,  or  at  all  events 
apparently  so  ?  Or,  to  put  the  situation  perhaps  a  bit 
more  clearly,  why  does  one  pupil  succeed  in  certain 
studies.  A,  B,  C,  and  another  fail  in  them,  but  gets  on 
in  some  other  lines,  X,  Y,  Z?  Why  does  he  fail  so 
ignominiously  in  Latin  but  succeed  in  stenography? 
Is  there  anything  to  be  said  for  the  method  in  the  lat- 
ter? 

The  aristocratic  method  has  always  been  based  upon 
the  doctrine  of  the  "saved  and  lost."  The  old  dualism 
persists.  There  is  man  and  hardly-man.  Lurking  in 
the  system  somewhere  has  been  the  conception  of  fate 
or  foreordination.  The  special  technic  by  which  the 
unregenerate  could  be  saved  becomes  stereotyped. 
Certain  channels  come  to  be  the  only  ways  open  to 
educational  salvation.  Favors  are  reserved  for  a  se- 
lected group.  This  general  philosophy  gets  into  every 
phase  of  life.  Education  does  not  escape  the  blight 
of  aristocratic  methods.  It  is  amusing  to  find  teachers 
and  educators  in  this  day  of  the  American  high  school 
holding  opinions  about  special  courses  and  pupils  of 
ability  not  unlike  a  member  of  the  High  Church  of 
England  who  on  being  interrogated  as  to  the  possibil- 
ity of  being  saved  by  any  other  route  replied  that 
"he  would  not  exactly  want  to  say  that  there  is  no 


SUCCESSES  AND  FAILURES  289 

other  way,  but,"  after  a  moment  of  agonizing  followed 
by  a  lucid  interval,  he  hastened  to  say,  "no  gentleman 
would  seek  any  other  way,  don't  you  know." 

An  attractive  httle  book  by  William  Hawley  Smith, 
entitled  The  Haves  and  the  Have  Nots,  represents  a 
very  common  attitude  in  the  schoolmaster's  philoso- 
phy. It  is  amusing  to  observe  the  frequency  of  occur- 
rence of  the  words  ^^ those  who,^^  employed  by  writers 
and  speakers  who  are  toying  with  vocational  guidance 
and  school  schedules.  Classification  has  always  been 
an  easy  way  of  escaping  responsibility. 

If  we  fall  back  upon  the  theory  of  "gifts,"  upon  the 
thesis  of  donation  or  endowment,  insisting  that  power 
is  solely  a  function  of  original  structure,  then  it  is  that 
classification  is  likely  to  be  made  in  advance  of  the 
journey.  The  chance  for  frank  and  honest,  gradual 
and  progressive  experimentation  is  practically  lost. 
The  absolutists  in  education  have  always  indulged  in 
the  habit  of  loose  prophecy.  Upon  meeting  difficulty, 
some  hasty  judgment  is  formed  with  respect  to  original 
nature.  Thomas  Edison,  it  is  alleged,  was  sent  home 
from  school  with  a  note:  "It's  no  use.  Tommy  can't 
learn.  He  ain't  got  the  apparatus."  We  are  dealing 
with  the  careless,  uncritical,  unscientific  temper  of 
writers,  amiable  lecturers,  and  pedagogues,  and  a  lot  of 
"educated"  folk  in  their  attempts  to  appraise  human 
stuflF.  And,  moreover,  we  have  had  fifty  years  of  Neo- 
Darwinianism — a  ready  acceptance  of  a  blind  evolu- 
tion mechanically  driving  the  cosmos  on  to  perfection. 
The  dogmas  of  self-preservation,  the  will  to  live,  the 
survival  of  the  fittest,  innate  ideas,  and  a  doctrine  of 
absolutes  have  contributed  to  the  confusion  of  knowl- 
edge about  life,  progress,  development. 


290  DIRECTING  STUDY 

As  long  as  we  are  confronted  with  the  pernicious 
belief  that  geniuses  are  born  and  not  made,  it  is  ex- 
tremely difficult  to  develop  the  sounder  principles  of 
American  life.  Talent  comes  to  be  a  donation,  a  gift, 
an  endowment,  a  quality  inherent  in  structure.  All 
this  is  a  survival  of  the  old  dualism  expressed  in  vari- 
ous forms:  master  and  slave,  saved  and  lost,  man  and 
hardly-man. 

Self-Completion  vs.  Survival  Theory. — The  new 
emphasis  is  self-effectuation,  progress,  differentiation. 
Man  selects  a  change  which  he  wishes  to  have  brought 
about:  individual  exertion  under  and  within  the  new 
conditions  produces  the  change.  The  selection  of  a 
change  does  not  make  the  change.  There  is  growth  in 
the  direction  of  successful  experiment. 

The  scientific  method  is  employed  in  the  new  pro- 
cedure. We  actually  set  out  to  change  the  direction 
of  life.  Man  asserts  his  responsibility  in  fabricating 
controls.  His  hypothesis  becomes  a  function  of  ac- 
tivity. The  scientist's  hypothesis  is  never  an  abso- 
lute. There  is  a  problem.  A  way  of  solving  it  is  con- 
ceived. This  tentative  way  (and  it  is  an  ideal,  and  it 
is  the  new  faith)  is  what  we  designate  as  an  hypothe- 
sis. The  hypothesis  is  never  an  absolute.  He  who 
examines  his  facts,  data,  acts,  experiences,  finds  that 
he  must  re-define  his  hypothesis  in  terms  of  activity; 
otherwise  the  performer  is  a  tradesman,  a  copyist,  a 
collator.  The  artist  and  the  sculptor  work  by  the  scien- 
tific method.  The  novice  or  amateur  at  physical  science 
or  statistics  who  appeases  the  mathematical  sense 
with  formulas  does  not  exhaust  the  possibilities  of  the 
scientific  method.  It  has  no  one  mode  of  expression. 
There  is  no  set  of  values  to  which  the  scientific  atti- 


SUCCESSES  AND   FAILURES  291 

tude  of  mind  may  not  ultimately  be  applied.  It  is 
for  this  reason  that  we  are  rapidly  naturalizing  the 
old  supernatural  zones  which  in  the  past  have  been 
accepted  on  the  basis  of  authority,  opinion,  or  blind 
faith. 

If  the  thesis  is  ^ound,  that  improvement  in  power 
comes  by  exercise,  it  follows  that  progress  under  new 
and  changing  conditions  is  the  central  emphasis  in 
education.  A  new  responsibility  is  imposed.  We  can- 
not hide  under  the  old  shelters,  the  old  absolutes.  The 
boy  does  not  succeed  or  fail  because  original  structure 
is  this  or  that;  but  every  quality,  talent,  or  power  is 
an  achievement,  not  a  donation.  At  all  events,  there 
can  be  no  improvement  in  power  without  exertion. 
The  will  to  progress  supersedes  the  will  to  live;  other- 
wise how  did  the  amoeba  ever  get  to  be  anything  be- 
yond itself?  The  hopeful  scientific  outlook  is  self- 
fulfilment  through  exercise.  Our  educational  task 
is  summed  up  in  the  problem  of  controls  in  the  de- 
velopment of  creative  intelligence.  What  conditions 
shall  be  provided  for  the  act  of  self -creation  ?  Under 
what  conditions  will  the  candidate  for  personaUty 
achieve,  make  progress  ?  Responsibility  is  shifted  from 
some  absolute  and  from  a  busy  aimlessness  and  idle 
talk  about  destiny  and  outcomes  over  to  man,  where  it 
belongs.  If  a  boy  succeeds,  or  seems  to  succeed,  the 
real  question  is,  has  he  been  achieving  somewhere  near 
his  maximum;  if  he  fails,  our  attention  must  be 
directed  to  the  conditions  within  which  he  has  been 
*' trying  out."  In  either  case  the  issue  is  never  closed, 
whether  success  or  failure  is  the  apparent  outcome. 

Experimental  Attitude  toward  Teaching. — The  new 
school  must  be  a  creative  educational  unit,  frankly 


292  DIRECTING  STUDY 

experimental,  whose  atmosphere,  aim,  method,  and 
special  contributions  are  so  conceived  and  managed 
that  each  individual  may  grow  to  full  stature.  It  is 
absurd  to  assert  that  any  normally  constituted  in- 
dividual is  incapable  of  making  progress  in  any  course 
in  the  curriculum.  The  amount .  of  progress  is  an- 
other matter;  also,  standards  and  entrance  conditions 
to  higher  schools  constitute  problems  in  themselves. 

The  upshot  of  the  matter  is,  we  know  very  little 
about  emerging  powers  and  potentiality.  We  cannot 
by  ex-cathedra  methods  be  sure  that  conditions  have 
been  favorable  for  growth.  What  we  need  is  a  frank 
application  of  the  experimental  method.  Uniformity 
of  conditions  and  individual  differences  do  not  go  to- 
gether. With  some  hypothesis,  never  an  absolute, 
we  need  to  attack  the  problems  of  learning.  An  edu- 
cational hypothesis,  like  the  artist's  hypothesis  and 
the  psychologist's  and  the  physicist's,  must  lend  it- 
self to  a  developing  process;  i.  e.,  one's  educational 
hypothesis  must  be  a  function  of  activities.  It  cannot 
be  settled,  defined,  formalized.  It  must  be  a  growing 
hypothesis. 

Somehow  our  norms  in  education  must  be  inter- 
preted in  functional  terms.  The  problem  of  subject- 
matter  in  any  course  of  instruction  cannot  be  ade- 
quately studied  apart  from  procedure  values.  The 
old  views  of  accredited  subject-matter  are  changing, 
just  because  the  humanizing  movement  is  taking  root. 
Values  are  no  longer  thought  to  be  absolute  and  in- 
herent. Whatever  subject  has  been  held  in  the  past 
to  be  an  indispenable  part  of  the  curriculum  should 
not  be  discarded  because  of  tradition.  Such  a  subject 
may  conceivably  be  ideally  adapted  to  the  new  situa- 


SUCCESSES  AND   FAILURES  293 

tion,  granting  of  course  the  validity  of  the  functional 
basis  of  procedure  in  dealing  with  such  a  subject.  A 
new  interpretation  of  education  in  accord  with  chang- 
ing social  conditions  does  not  carry  with  it  any  man- 
date to  fabricate  essentially  new  and  different  cur- 
ricular  matter.  We  shall  have  a  clearer  perspective 
on  this  issue  once  it  is  recognized  that  permanent  or 
continuing  processes  are  capable  of  incorporation  in 
the  new  situations  confronting  society.  Democracy 
progresses  by  the  principle  of  extension  of  privilege. 
What  has  been  reserved  for  a  privileged  or  superior 
class  is  taken  over  by  a  developing  democratic  state 
and  made  universal.  The  secondary  school  was  for- 
merly a  privilege  for  a  selected  group.  We  are  rapidly 
democratizing  the  high  school. 

Regimentation  in  Educational  Programmes. — We 
are  now  face  to  face  with  the  old  dualism,  the  old  cleav- 
age between  "those  who"  may  profit  by  one  type  of 
education  and  "those  who"  may  not  profit  by  that 
type  of  education.  In  the  last  analysis  two  camps 
are  pitted  against  each  other  in  the  attempt  to  in- 
augurate educational  programmes  involving  two  op- 
posing sets  of  ideas.  It  is  asserted  by  both  groups  that 
success  in  algebra,  music,  etc.,  is  determined  by  in- 
herent structure.  If  such  is  the  case,  it  follows  that 
some  division  or  classification  should  be  made. 
Broadly  speaking,  the  cleavage  runs  between  educa- 
tion in  liberal  terms  for  one  class  and  in  vocational 
terms  for  another  class.  The  interesting  aspect  of 
this  dilemma  lies  in  the  fact  that  essentially  the  same 
philosophy  is  utilized  to  support  both  contentions. 

The  practical  problem  for  one  group  of  educators  is 
to  discover  reliable  means  and  methods  of  revealing 


294  DIRECTING  STUDY 

in  advance  of  the  experiment  those  alleged  native 
gifts  or  talents  upon  the  basis  of  which  a  tentative 
classification  is  to  be  made. 

The  development  of  psychological  tests  and  measure- 
ments of  intelligence  has  no  doubt  suggested  a  reliable, 
scientific  procedure  by  which  abilities  may  be  ascer- 
tained. It  is  the  scientific  faith  of  a  great  many  edu- 
cators to-day  that  these  instruments  will  soon  reach 
such  a  stage  of  perfection  as  will  enable  school  ad- 
ministrators to  enter  upon  a  fairly  definite  programme 
in  the  classification  of  pupils  with  respect  to  the  two 
major  types  of  education  suggested.  It  is  held  by  some 
prominent  educators  that  this  cleavage  may  be  begun 
as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  Junior  High  School, 
while  others  are  urging  a  later  period  in  which  to  make 
a  somewhat  arbitrary  classification.  The  point  of 
interest  in  all  of  this  vocational  venture  seems  to  be 
the  element  of  prophecy.  The  scientific  method  is 
being  employed  in  the  quest  to  work  out  the  theory 
of  inherent  capacities.  In  other  words,  what  has  been 
accepted  as  an  undemonstrated  thesis,  a  plausible 
theory,  is  now  being  subjected  to  the  scientific  method, 
and  as  a  result  of  the  application  of  this  new  and  deli- 
cate instrument,  the  old  philosophy  of  educational 
predestination  has  been  revived  and  intensified,  not 
on  the  basis  of  any  verifiable  evidence,  but  on  the 
theory  that  these  tests  are  bound  to  become  more  and 
more  reliable  and  penetrating.  The  "lad  o'  parts"  is 
with  us  again.  The  "weaker  vessels"  are  to  be  sorted 
out  and  given  a  special  type  of  education.  The  belief 
would  seem  to  be  that  man  is  already,  or,  at  all  events, 
that  on  account  of  his  inherent  structure,  he  is  forever 
barred  from  becoming.  In  effect,  man  is  doomed  either 
to  success  or  to  failure. 


SUCCESSES  AND  FAILURES  295 

One  may  very  properly  urge  the  use  of  psychological 
tests  for  purposes  of  diagnosis  and  improvement  of 
teaching.  It  is  not  essential  that  classification  should 
be  the  dominant  aim  of  tests  of  any  sort.  To  hold 
that  the  purpose  of  education  is  the  production  of 
changes  in  individuals  indicates  a  radical  departure 
from  the  absolutist's  programme.  It  means  that  im- 
provement of  power  is  not  a  function  of  structure,  but 
rather  a  function  of  exertion.  Under  this  thesis  man 
is  not  until  he  becomes.  Man's  heredity  is  his  task. 
The  emphasis  is  shifted  from  donation  to  achieve- 
ment. The  new  instrument  of  educational  tests  may 
enable  the  teacher  to  find  out  where  a  pupil  is  in 
a  developing  scheme.  It  will  assist  him  in  arriving  at 
values;  for  no  fact  can  be  accepted  in  its  baldness. 
The  test  is  in  no  sense  a  means  of  determining  what 
change  may  be  produced  under  new  controls.  In  brief, 
prophecy  cannot  be  securely  based  upon  psychological 
tests.  They  should  enable  us  to  select  a  desired  change. 
The  individual  energizing,  agonizing,  working  within 
the  new  conditions  set  up  as  controls  for  the  purpose 
of  eflFecting  the  desired  change,  makes  the  change.  This 
hypothesis  abandons  status,  and  secures  for  education 
the  hopeful  and  soundly  scientific  principle,  to  wit, 
our  educational  hypothesis  is  a  function  of  activity. 

Differentiation  and  Classification. — The  biological 
principle  of  differentiation  may  now  be  linked  up  with 
the  promising  psychology  of  individual  differences. 
Instead  of  seeking  higher  degrees  of  uniformity  with- 
in any  class  group,  it  should  be  the  aim  to  emphasize 
progress  within  organizing  principles,  and  to  foster 
developing  differentiation.  No  two  pupils  may  be 
expected  to  do  the  same  amount  of  work,  or  to  make 


296  DIRECTING  STUDY 

equal  paces  of  progress.  If  rates  of  progress  are  in 
any  sense  determined  by  original  nature,  and  con- 
ceivably such  a  view  could  be  accepted  as  thoroughly 
sound,  then  it  would  seem  to  be  perfectly  clear  that 
increasing  ranges  of  differences  should  be  expected  in 
any  working  group. 

The  best  time  to  bring  together  a  group  of  pupils 
for  the  study  of  any  subject — geometry,  science,  what 
not — ^is  an  important  matter,  and  constitutes  a  real 
problem  in  itself.  We  are  concerned  at  the  moment 
with  the  processes  of  development  in  the  class  or 
section  group  on  the  basis  of  present  practices  in 
programming  pupils.  No  matter  what  degree  of  uni- 
formity of  abilities  may  be  assumed  at  the  beginning 
of  a  course,  an  application  of  this  functional  inter- 
pretation of  procedure  will  inevitably  lead  to  greater 
and  greater  ranges  of  differences  in  powers. 

The  need  of  tests  based  upon  developmental  proc- 
esses is  evident.  That  is  to  say,  tests  cannot  be  for- 
malized, stereotyped,  and  settled,  as  absolutes,  any 
more  than  any  other  educational  hypothesis,  if  we  are 
to  go  forward  in  procedures  based  upon  life  categories. 

The  significance  of  any  response  cannot  be  deter- 
mined apart  from  the  total  situation  in  which  the  item 
of  experience  occurs.  Any  attempt  to  limit  education 
to  a  mere  quantitative  and  mathematical  analysis  in 
the  view  that /ad  is  the  correlate  of  science  must  fail; 
nor  is  it  enough  to  insist  upon  a  view  of  value  as  the 
correlate  of  appreciation.  The  application  of  scientific 
method  should  serve  to  enable  us  to  evaluate  results 
with  increasing  accuracy  of  judgment  and  also  to  cul- 
tivate a  certain  liberal  temper  in  appraising  powers  of 
boys  and  girls. 


SUCCESSES  AND   FAILURES  297 

Self-Realization. — To  accept  the  view  that  nothing 
significant  in  power  is  gained  except  by  exertion  is  at 
least  a  wholesome  philosophy.  The  attempt  to  modify 
controls  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  the  pupil  toward 
a  sensitive  responsibility  in  his  own  self-creation  and 
self-realization  is  certainly  no  argument  for  a  "soft" 
pedagogy.  It  puts  the  responsibility  for  progress  where 
it  belongs.  The  task  of  the  school  is  a  difficult  one 
indeed,  yet  not  insuperable.  Some  clear-cut  demo- 
cratic criterion  is  needed.  May  it  not  be  that  the  func- 
tion of  the  school  is  to  surround  each  developing  child 
and  youth  with  such  conditions  as  will  enable  each 
to  become  an  excellent  judge  of  his  own  developing 
powers  and  to  find  for  himself  through  gradual,  pro- 
gressive experimentation  his  own  opportunities,  not 
alone  in  school,  but  also  in  his  life-work  or  occupation. 
The  responsibihty  for  progress,  development,  and 
occupation  must  be  assumed  by  the  individual.  The 
extent  to  which  the  school  may  be  utilized  in  the  proc- 
ess of  assisting  boys  and  girls  to  adequate  self-expres- 
sion and  personal  responsibility  has  hardly  been  real- 
ized or  appreciated. 

There  is  some  considerable  confusion  of  judgment 
in  drawing  inferences  from  doubtful  analogy.  For 
example,  in  the  case  of  line  breeding  for  a  special  qual- 
ity, such  as  a  high-milk-production  herd,  or  a  trotting 
stock,  physical  structure  is  differentiated  and  a  po- 
tential quality  is  predictable.  Improvement  in  special 
quality  or  power  is  still  possible  and  is  assured  in  the 
individual  by  exertion.  Otherwise  it  is  diflacult  to 
understand  how  any  gain  is  made  in  a  special  trait  in 
line  breeding.  To  allege  that  variation  in  mental  traits 
and  capacities  can  be  accounted  for  in  the  same  way 


298  DIRECTING  STUDY 

is  somewhat  specious.  Perhaps  primitive  groups  could 
be  shown  to  be  far  below  modern  groups  in  sheer  men- 
tality. That,  however,  is  not  the  real  issue.  Our  class- 
room groups  are  quite  homogeneous  in  that  the  mem- 
bers of  any  given  class  belong  to  the  present-day  civili- 
zation. There  has  been,  in  other  words,  no  deliberate 
experiment  comparable  to  line  breeding  designed  to 
produce  genius  in  algebra,  music,  science,  or  any  other 
line  of  general  secondary  education.  It  would  seem 
logical,  therefore,  that  we  should  use  with  great  cau- 
tion arguments  based  upon  analogies  from  experiments 
which  first  of  all  deal  with  variation  in  physiological 
structure. 

Again,  what  is  required  under  an  emergency  pro- 
gramme such  as  war,  or  for  that  in  civil-service  posi- 
tions, may  not  be  applicable  in  an  educational  pro- 
gramme. Not  only  should  the  distinction  be  made 
between  skill  and  the  educative  process  {i.  e.,  between 
training  and  education),  but  also  between  the  claims 
of  immediate  necessity  and  values  dependent  upon 
time  and  experimentation.  The  rapid  mobilization  of 
special  skills  is  imperative  whenever  an  emergency 
arises.  Efficiency  in  factory  production  involves  the 
same  general  principle.  If  the  centre  of  gravity  for 
youth  is  to  be  in  the  economic  sphere,  then  technical 
efficiency  must  be  placed  above  values.  Human  values 
are  relegated  to  a  subordinate  role.  If,  however,  the 
centre  of  gravity  of  the  life  of  youth  is  to  be  found  in 
an  educational  sphere,  we  shall  not  be  driven  to  the 
necessity  of  classification  and  a  discovery  of  "innate" 
or  "resident"  capacities.  We  shall  have  time  for  ex- 
perimentation. The  candidate  for  personality  will  be 
given  a  chance  to  grow.     His  development  will  not 


SUCCESSES  AND   FAILURES  299 

be  cut  off  by  early  vocational  placement.  What  is 
revealed  through  tests  as  a  weakness  may  be  accepted 
as  an  evidence  of  immaturity.  In  education  infants 
are  to  be  nurtured.  We  find  in  the  college  individuals 
short  of  full-orbed  development.  The  value  of  psy- 
chological tests  is  inestimable  in  diagnosis.  They 
should  be  regarded  as  dehcate  instruments  for  reveal- 
ing symptoms  both  of  healthy  functioning  and  deteri- 
oration. Prediction  of  outcomes  is  the  add  test  in 
an  emergency  or  a  production  programme.  Prediction 
is  not  a  major  consideration  in  an  educational  situa- 
tion. We  have  time  for  experimentation  and  "try- 
out"  in  the  latter.  Negative  results  are  not  disastrous 
in  the  educative  process.  The  important  thing  is  prog- 
ress, growth,  development — not  technical  efficiency. 

Moreover,  standards  of  all  sorts  dealing  with  human 
situations  are  instrumental  and  necessary  in  exclud- 
ing unprepared  and  incompetent  individuals  from  the 
enjoyment  of  certain  privileges  retained  for  those  who 
have  complied  with  the  requirements  of  this  and  that 
institution,  service,  or  profession.  But  it  should  be 
recalled  that  not  all  who  comply,  pass  the  test,  or 
measure  up  will  on  that  account  prove  competent  in 
the  enterprise  ahead. 

Tests  of  all  sorts  test  about  what  they  test.  It  is 
extremely  doubtful  whether  or  not  intelligence,  char- 
acter, genius,  "native"  mentality,  or  potentiahty  is 
tested  by  materials  dealing  with  restricted  areas  of 
academic  information  or  social  materials  which  are 
unequally  shared  by  any  group.  The  technic  or  meth- 
ods by  which  such  a  fundamental  quality  as  genius 
or  intelligence  may  be  realized  may  be  lacking.  Unless 
these  qualities  of  the  human  find  a  way  for  expressing 


300  DIRECTING  STUDY 

themselves,  they  are  not  grown,  developed,  or  realized. 

"  The  written  part  of  the  examination  (or  test)  can 
only  deal  successfully  with  that  part  of  it  which  is 
destined  to  be  forgotten  as  soon  as  it  has  served  its 
purpose,  and  it  can  tell  us  next  to  nothing  of  what  is 
to  remain  as  a  possession  forever,"  says  Burnet  in 
Higher  Education  and  the  War,  and  "culture"  means 
^^  activity  of  thought,  and  receptiveness  to  beauty,  and 
humane  feeling,^'  and  it  exactly  covers  that  vital  part 
of  education  which  cannot  be  tested  by  the  ordinary 
written  examination  or  test. 

Frankly,  the  thesis  defended  here  would  operate  to 
avoid  the  blight  of  specialization  in  the  high  school. 
The  main  lines  of  secondary  education  are  conceived 
to  be  general  in  character.  The  entire  body  of  the 
youth  of  the  nation  should  be  given  solid  contact  with 
the  essential  modes  of  secondary  education  as  a  part 
of  common-school  education.  The  underlying  prin- 
ciples are  included  within  six  or  seven  cores:  English, 
mathematics,  science  (agriculture  included),  history 
(social  studies),  language  (stenography  as  well  as 
Latin),  constructive  arts.  All  normally  constituted 
adolescents  are  capable  of  making  evident  progress  in 
all  of  these  fields.  It  is,  in  our  view,  absurd  to  allege 
that  any  boy  or  girl  is  biologically  unfit  to  succeed  in 
any  legitimate  work  of  any  one  of  these  six  major  lines 
of  secondary  education.  The  four  fundamental  social 
arts  in  early  elementary  education — reading,  writing, 
arithmetic,  drawing — are  the  basic  social  arts  for  all 
children.  No  one  presumes  to  select  those  who  have 
capacity  to  succeed  in  the  use  of  words  applied  to  read- 
ing. Similarly,  the  writer  entertains  the  view  that  no 
pupil   is   inherently   incapacitated    to    learn    algebra, 


SUCCESSES  AND   FAILURES  301 

shorthand,  chemistry,  etc.,  in  the  secondary  school. 
It  is  mainly  a  question  of  assisting  the  pupil  toward 
a  sensitive  responsibility  of  his  own  task  of  self-mas- 
tery. 

What  is  recorded  as  failure  is,  on  the  whole,  evidence 
of  ineffective  social  controls  and  individual  intellectual 
flabbiness,  both  of  which  may  be  successfully  met,  as 
a  general  proposition,  when  we  square  our  educational 
philosophy  with  our  new  categories  of  science  in  terms 
of  function,  development,  experiment — in  brief,  the 
will  to  progress — ^and  then  give  attention  to  procedure 
values  that  level  up  to  this  modern  philosophy  of 
American  life. 

Practical  Aspects  of  Educational  Theories. — It  may 
not  smack  of  the  cold,  impersonal,  objective  side  of 
science  to  urge  the  psychology  of  practical  human  rela- 
tions. No  father  is  reconciled  to  any  classification  of 
his  progeny  in  the  C  group.  The  educator  who  insists 
that  he  would  gladly  accept  the  programme  for  his 
own  son  can  insist  vigorously  so  long  as  he  knows  his 
son  falls  in  the  A  division.  Self-preservation — the 
survival  of  the  fittest — has  always  been  a  comfortable 
doctrine  for  those  who  prosper,  be  it  remembered. 
The  modern  schoolmaster  with  his  up-to-date  devices 
and  his  I.  Q.'s  (Intelligence  Quotients),  by  which  pupils 
are  sorted  out  and  placed  in  their  respective  "exhibits," 
is  repeating  a  sad  chapter  in  the  history  of  education. 
The  schoolmaster  is  not  immune  from  our  human 
psychology.  Let  him  predetermine  a  "mentally  de- 
layed" lad  by  placing  him  in  the  inferior  section  and 
it  becomes  exceedingly  diflScult  to  refrain  from  prov- 
ing an  alibi  in  that  boy's  dilemma.  In  fact,  the  boy 
himself  is  not  slow  in  sensing  his  position  and  he  too 


302  DIRECTING  STUDY 

proves  an  alibi.  The  schoolmaster  has  always  been 
able  to  get  just  about  what  he  expects  from  his  pupils. 
The  C  pupil  soon  responds  on  the  level  of  expectation. 
The  absolutist  readily  finds  material  to  satisfy  his 
formula.  His  formula,  x  -\-  y  =  z,  is  a  ready-made 
scheme.  His  materials  are  fashioned  to  fit  the  formula. 
For  the  pragmatist,  the  humanist  variety,  any  such 
formula  is  conceived  as  an  hypothesis,  x  and  y  for 
him  are  naked  creatures  and  must  be  reclothed  with 
every  use.  The  future  is  not  closed  in  this  latter  view. 
There  is  room  for  experimentation,  for  trial  and  suc- 
cess, for  tentative  judging  and  frequent  revision  of 
opinion. 

The  practical  side  of  this  discussion  is  obvious. 
Hasty  judgment  on  what  a  boy  is,  not  what  he  may 
become  by  exertion,  is  a  schoolmastering  trait  sadly 
overdeveloped.  The  wholesome  philosophy  of  link- 
ing up  a  faith  in  developing  powers  with  human  psy- 
chology in  dealing  with  folks  is  soundly  based  in  the 
fundamental  principles  of  American  life.  The  respon- 
sibility for  results  is  definitely  shifted  from  absolutes, 
supernatural  and  beyond  man's  power  to  control,  over 
to  man,  where  it  belongs.  Responsibility  for  changing 
the  direction  of  the  current  of  life  is  transferred  from 
a  blind  evolution,  mechanically  driven  on  to  perfection, 
over  to  man  made  sensitive  to  his  share  in  the  co-opera- 
tive drive  to  change  human  nature  and  to  harness  the 
brute  forces  of  the  cosmos  in  the  interest  of  man;  for 
we  live  in  a  world  of  changes  and  developments,  not  a 
world  of  absolutes.  It  is  after  all  essential,  yea  im- 
perative, in  a  real  democracy  to  recognize  the  supreme 
worth  of  every  individual.  Each  must  be  given  a  fair 
chance  to  grow;  each  must  be  taught  to  win  by  achieve- 


SUCCESSES  AND  FAILURES  303 

ment  freedom  and  power  in  the  direction  desired.  The 
scientific  method  is  indispensable  in  any  sane  realiza- 
tion of  a  procedure  to  this  end.  The  practical  signif- 
icance of  having  a  hopeful  people,  confident  in  their  ability 
to  change  the  direction  of  forces,  confident  in  their  ability 
to  overcome  difficulties  and  to  find  a  solution  of  their  prob- 
lems, can  be  urged  with  perfect  scientific  composure  in 
the  profession  of  education. 

Differentiation  vs.  Group  Mediocrity. — By  placing 
the  emphasis  upon  progress  through  achievement  the 
way  is  open  for  developing  dififerentiation.  The  low 
mythology  of  uniformity,  or  of  conformity  or  medi- 
ocrity for  that,  no  matter  on  what  level  conceived,  is 
no  longer  entertained.  In  the  game  of  life  there  will 
be  ample  room  for  "each  in  his  own  tongue  "  and  also 
for  the  genius  of  co-operation.  We  shall  expect  emerg- 
ing qualities  of  leadership,  courage,  power,  and  initia- 
tive out  of  the  striving  of  all  with  each  energizing  to 
his  maximum.  A  recognition  of  superior  merit  is  a 
democratic  possibility  even  after  status  has  disap- 
peared in  education.  The  spirit  of  good  sportsmanship 
in  athletics  is  illustrative  of  the  attitude  to  be  taken 
toward  education  without  status.  In  the  contest  there 
is  the  element  of  winning  the  score;  but  there  is  also 
good  fellowship  and  fair  play.  There  is  consensus  of 
judgment  and  good  feeling  accorded  the  star  players. 
And,  moreover,  the  keenest  sensing  of  values  in  a  real 
contest  falls  to  the  one  who  all  but  wins  the  honors, 
the  second  man.  The  lowest  man  in  the  running  is 
hardly  scandalized  by  his  position  in  the  final  score. 

Democracy,  rationally  organized,  must  take  into 
account  trained  and  technical  abilities  with  which  the 
"common  man,"  so  called,  has  been  somewhat  im- 


304  DIRECTING  STUDY 

patient.  Discrimination  in  the  selection  of  exponents 
of  the  common  good  is  to-day  sadly  neglected.  It 
should  be  a  matter  of  general  knowledge  that  extension 
of  privilege  does  not  result  in  levelling  society.  On 
the  contrary,  even  greater  ranges  of  individual  dif- 
ferences should  be  expected  by  increasing  the  number 
of  those  who  may  enter  the  game  with  a  fair  chance 
of  improving  power  by  exercise.  Moreover,  when 
every  ability  or  potentiality  is  guaranteed  an  oppor- 
tunity for  full  self-expression,  the  common  elevation 
may  be  appreciably  raised  and  also  new  mountain 
peaks  discovered.  Here  again  we  have  life's  categories 
interpreted  in  terms  of  growing,  changing  hypotheses, 
not  in  absolutes. 

Equal  amounts  of  progress  are  not  to  be  expected 
in  any  class  group  where  every  person  is  developing 
at  his  own  best  rate.  One  thing  needed  now  is  a  gen- 
eral levelling-up  that  will  insure  creative  thinking  in 
American  life.  A  general  schooling  short  of  the  6th 
grade  is  hardly  adequate  in  coping  with  twentieth- 
century  problems.  There  need  be  no  anxiety  con- 
cerning leadership  in  the  adoption  of  an  educational 
programme  intended  to  secure  universal  secondary 
education.  It  is  not  important  that  all  should  succeed 
in  the  same  way  or  to  anything  like  the  same  degree 
in  the  essential  principles  of  secondary  work.  The  lazy 
fallacy  that  uniformity  would  be  imposed  by  such  an 
extension  of  privilege  is  a  part  of  the  low  mythology 
of  the  old  political  notions  of  democracy.  In  the  view 
of  the  thesis  suggested  in  these  remarks  "Man  is  not 
created"  exactly:  rather,  "Man  creates  himself  by 
his  own  activity."  Hence,  our  earlier  conceptions  of 
equality  are  insufl&cient  in  the  new  social  order.     In- 


SUCCESSES  AND   FAILURES  305 

evitably  merit  earned  in  the  sweat  of  man's  brow  must 
be  the  criterion  by  which  to  judge  human  values.  The 
horizon  of  achievement  is  extended  by  virtue  of  the 
fact  that  no  upper  limit  is  set  for  any  individual.  Per- 
haps it  will  become  increasingly  difficult  to  differentiate 
conspicuous  service  as  well  as  capacity,  but  one  thing 
is  pretty  certain:  if  we  can  delete  the  ancient  dogma 
of  rights,  absolute  and  inherent,  and  frankly  accept 
a  new  working  hypothesis,  to  the  effect  that  man 
must  be  everlastingly  achieving  his  freedom,  ever- 
lastingly improving  his  powers  by  exertion,  and  ever- 
lastingly growing  his  personality,  it  is  reasonably  sound 
argument,  it  would  appear,  to  urge  that  social  dis- 
crimination can  be  cultivated  and  that  society  can  be 
carried  forward  in  the  processes  of  organization  toward 
clearer  recognition  of  trained  and  technical  ability  in 
the  promotion  of  the  common  good. 

The  institutional  schoolmaster  has  always  been  re- 
sourceful in  devising  methods  by  which  he  could  dis- 
tinguish successes  and  failures.  To  be  sure,  he  found 
difficulties  in  dealing  with  pupils  who  moved  about  in 
the  twilight  zone  between  ** failing"  and  "passing." 
Often  the  means  employed  to  locate  the  doubtful  vic- 
tim on  one  side  of  the  academic  dead-line  or  the  other 
have  been  ridiculous.  Some  great  man  has  said  that 
he  pursued  the  multiplication  tables  without  over- 
taking them.  It  would  no  doubt  be  embarrassing  to 
many  a  pedagogue  to  meet  his  pupils  forty  years  after 
he  had  separated  the  sheep  from  the  goats  on  the  basis 
of  current  school  standards. 

Sensing  a  New  Direction. — The  shift  of  emphasis 
from  the  conception  of  successes  and  failures  to  the 
conception  of  progress  and  changes  in  human  nature 


306  DIRECTING  STUDY 

in  the  educative  process  obviates  the  apparent  neces- 
sity of  making  this  exasperating  cleavage  between 
pupils.  It  could  easily  be  shown  that  many  pupils 
marked  failures  have  made  greater  relative  progress 
than  others  who  have  received  the  pedagogical  bene- 
diction. The  new  school  and  the  new  teacher  will  be 
concerned  less  with  standards  and  infinitely  more  with 
growth  and  development.  The  new  teacher  will  be 
interested  in  the  creation  of  a  certain  type  of  individual 
— an  individual  who  is  making  progress  in  rational 
thinking  and  in  the  development  of  social-mindedness. 
We  must  be  prepared  to  meet  the  objection  that 
scholarship  will  perish  from  the  face  of  the  earth  if 
we  undertake  the  democratic  task  of  bringing  about 
conditions  that  will  make  it  possible  for  the  breezes 
of  science,  art,  and  poetry  to  fan  the  brow  of  the  com- 
mon man.  Yet  "temptations  to  excellence"  may  not 
disappear  in  the  new  conception  of  the  individual. 
We  can  have  a  large  scientific  faith  in  human  nature 
and  at  the  same  time  enhance  the  meaning  of  intrinsic 
scholarship.  Perhaps  we  shall  find  it  imperative  to 
reconsider  the  elements  and  character  of  accredited 
forms  of  scholarship.  In  the  past  status  has  dictated 
the  terms  and  conditions  of  scholarship.  The  stand- 
ards have  been  too  narrow  and  exclusive,  if  not  arti- 
ficial and  dogmatic.  It  has  been  thought  that  a  su- 
perior class,  a  chosen  few  only,  could  succeed  in  the 
"hard"  studies.  Somehow  the  defenders  of  the  status 
quo,  the  absolutists  in  education,  have  arrived  at  the 
conviction  that  folks  are  doomed  from  the  beginning 
to  success  or  failure.  That  we  still  have  different  de- 
grees of  success  no  one  will  take  issue.  Up  out  of  the 
striving  of  all  will  come  our  emerging  leaderships  on 


SUCCESSES  AND  FAILURES  307 

the  new  basis  of  a  "live-and-let-live"  programme  in  a 
world  of  mutually  shared  interests.  Each  will  still  be 
an  individualist  in  the  best  sense  and  withal  differen- 
tiated, i.  e.,  individualized,  as  a  social  being  without 
destroying  the  genius  for  co-operation.* 

The  technic  is  yet  to  be  worked  out.  Surely  the 
antiquated  lesson-hearing  school  with  its  dogmas  of 
acceptance  must  give  way  to  the  thought-provoking 
school  with  its  zest  for  true  living.  The  educational 
psychologist  and  the  new  teacher  have  a  large  part 
to  play  in  the  remaking  of  our  schools.  The  new 
general  method  will  no  doubt  find  its  dynamic  in  the 
spirit  of  science.  The  new  culture  must  start  with  a 
new  conception  of  the  individual,  a  new  faith  in  hu- 
man nature  based  upon  the  presupposition  that  changes 
in  man  and  society  can  be  produced.  The  main  pre- 
occupation of  youth,  as  well  as  children,  is  growth  and 
development.  By  placing  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the 
life  of  youth  in  an  educational  sphere,  rather  than  in 
the  economic  sphere,  we  shall  be  able  to  create  a  new 
and  hopeful  attitude  toward  human  values  and  the 
potentialities  of  youth. 

*  For  a  masterly  presentation  of  the  issue  of  "  Pedagogical  Determin- 
ism; or,  Democracy  and  the  I.  Q.,"  see  Bagley,  School  and  Society, 
April  8,  1922. 


CHAPTER  IX 
A  SHIFT  OF  EMPHASIS 

The  Task. — The  supreme  task  of  the  teacher  is  to 
stimulate  and  guide  mental  life.  It  is  idle  to  talk  about 
being  a  student  without  study,  without  whole-hearted 
concentration  of  energy  to  one's  work.  There  is  no 
easy  road  to  mastery.  In  the  last  analysis  it  must  be 
made  clear  to  the  pupil  that  he  is  responsible  for  the 
use  of  his  powers  in  a  learning  situation.  We,  as 
teachers,  need  to  recognize  the  primacy  of  the  living 
variety  of  experience  and  seek  to  develop  an  atmos- 
phere in  which  each  individual  may  rise  to  the  full 
measure  of  his  possibilities.  The  essential  matter  lies 
in  the  development  of  an  environment  in  which  the 
conscious  will  may  be  impelled  to  embark  upon  new 
adventures  with  energy  and  purpose.  The  problem  is 
to  plan  and  fabricate  controls  which  grip  the  imagi- 
nation of  pupils  and  which  evoke  sincere  responses. 
Whatever  proves  to  be  instrumental  in  the  release  of 
potentialities  gains  significance  in  this  view. 

Basis  of  Action. — A  philosophy  of  education  is  im- 
perative; some  philosophy  of  life  is  always  accepted 
either  implicitly  or  explicitly.  The  whole  educational 
situation  is  colored  by  the  theory  of  mind  represented 
or  misrepresented  in  current  discussion.  The  extent 
of  corruption  of  youth  through  the  spread  of  soft  peda- 
gogy can  hardly  be  overestimated.  The  nerve  of 
effort-making  capacity  is  cut  by  a  constant  misrepre- 

308 


A  SHIFT  OF  EMPHASIS  309 

sentation  of  human  potentiality.  There  is  a  wide- 
spread belief  in  the  doctrine  of  original  capacity. 
Many  a  pupil,  finding  difficulty  in  some  "hard"  study, 
is  reminded  that  he  is  motor  or  executive  minded  and, 
on  that  account,  unfit  for  the  pursuit  of  things  intel- 
lectual or  abstract.  Teachers  and  parents  are  prone 
to  entertain  some  popular  fancy  about  genius,  talent, 
or  native  endowment.  In  the  more  or  less  pervasive 
acceptance  of  a  kind  of  dogma  of  educational  Cah'in- 
ism  the  ideal  achieving  capacity  suffers  lamentably. 
It  is  perfectly  obvious,  however,  that  a  blind  faith  in 
the  ability  of  every  individual  to  rise  to  a  level  of  sur- 
passing excellence  is  an  obstacle  in  the  development 
of  a  sound  professional  spirit  in  education.  On  the 
other  hand,  teachers  to-day  would  welcome  a  new 
emphasis  on  determination  on  the  part  of  pupils  to 
see  it  through.  They  might  well  maintain  that  teach- 
ing is  a  mode  of  arousing  boys  and  girls  to  say  in  count- 
less ways  /  can,  I  must,  I  will. 

Again,  if  the  mind  is  simply  to  be  trained  by  means 
of  certain  traditional  studies,  if  the  emphasis  is  placed 
upon  a  formal  mechanical  discipline,  the  tendency  too 
frequently  is  to  foster  the  memorizing  school.  Reci- 
tation and  reiteration  of  accredited  subject-matter 
may  readily  come  to  be  the  essential  modes  of  expres- 
sion. Or,  if  the  mind  is  conceived  to  be  a  kind  of  re- 
ceptacle to  be  filled  with  "contents"  (information)  or 
an  instrument  or  mechanism  in  which  certain  bonds 
are  to  be  fixed,  the  emphasis  is  still  on  the  lesson- 
assigning  and  lesson-hearing  school.  An  enormous 
amount  of  testing  the  retentive  capacity  of  pupils  is 
done.  All  this  reflects  a  well-defined  theory  of  edu- 
cation.    The  painful  process  of  information  is  still 


310  DIRECTING  STUDY 

conducted   with   vigor   and   devotion   under   certain 
theories  of  mind-training. 

A  totally  different  approach  is  suggested  in  the  view 
that  real  education  begins  at  the  point  of  difficulty  or 
crisis.  The  problem-solving  school  is  envisaged.  The 
past,  and  by  the  past  is  meant  experience  in  all  its 
forms — knowledge,  information,  theories,  principles, 
methods — all  of  these  things  can  only  furnish  man's 
intelligence  with  material  to  organize,  systematize, 
and  order  for  the  purpose  of  setting  up  some  point  of 
departure  for  the  will  to  embark  upon.  To  use  a 
Dewey  statement,  education  must  deal  with  a  con- 
tinuous reconstruction  of  experience.  There  never 
can  be  too  much  information,  too  much  theory,  or 
acquaintance  with  "dangerous"  methods,  if  all  such 
experience  is  used  as  a  basis  for  reconstruction  in  fac- 
ing the  new  situation.  Intelligence  is,  in  a  real  sense, 
a  lamp  throwing  perhaps  a  bit  of  light  forward;  but 
the  next  step  for  the  teacher  is  always  out  on  the  frontier 
of  educational  civilization.  Teaching  is  essentially  an 
art.  The  conscious  will  equipped  with  scholarship, 
theory,  experience,  method  (intelligence,  in  short), 
moves  forward,  not  by  chart  and  compass,  but  rather 
by  taking  the  moral  hazard.  This  is  the  significance 
of  a  shift  of  emphasis  from  accredited  sanctions  in 
terms  of  subject-matter  and  methods  over  to  real  boys 
and  girls  at  work  in  a  procedure  in  which  directing 
action  through  control  of  environment  is  the  primary 
emphasis. 

Search  for  a  Constant. — The  habit  of  looking  for 
some  infallible,  safe  guide  must  be  examined  in  this 
connection.  To  transfer  attention  to  boys  and  girls 
at  work  means  a  study  of  human  situations. 


A  SHIFT  OF  EMPHASIS  311 

A  human  situation  is  so  vast,  so  many-sided,  so  complex  that 
no  scientific  solution,  no  group  of  scientific  principles,  is  quite 
far-reaching  enough  to  cover  it.  Such  bits  or  aspects  of  it  as 
we  may  abstract  from  the  whole  and  consider  apart  are  a  mere 
inconsiderable  fragment  of  the  total  issue  of  which  the  roots  are 
in  Tophet  and  the  branches  among  the  stars. 

What  we  abstract  in  some  fragmentary  aspect  is  thrown  back 
as  a  bit  of  new  leaven  into  the  boiling  ferment  of  mysterious 
forces  that  are  at  work. 

A  pleasing  fancy,  too  long  indulged,  bids  us  hope  that  the 
ebullition  will  cease  the  instant  that  science  is  cast  on  the  flood. 
But  experience  teaches  that  science,  thus  introduced,  joins  the 
turmoil  instead  of  calming  it,  or  gives  new  vigor  to  the  gods 
who  trouble  the  waters  and  raise  the  wind.* 

Science  in  that  sense  can  never  capture  the  essential 
fact  of  life.  May  we  not  frankly  recognize  the  fact 
that  a  science  of  teaching  on  those  terms  is  impos- 
sible? Neither  history,  regarded  as  a  means  of  pre- 
dicting the  future  on  the  basis  of  repetition  of  events, 
nor  science,  as  applied  to  inanimate  things  or  to  forces 
undifferentiated  by  conscious  will,  can  be  relied  upon 
in  dealing  with  those  shy  facts  in  human  situations. 
The  notion  is  deeply  rooted  that  somehow  the  secret 
which  holds  the  solution  to  human  reaction  may  be 
disclosed.  The  search  for  a  constant  is  a  diligent  one, 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  self-conscious  will  escapes 
formulas  and  overflows  definitions.  This  is  one  side 
of  the  shield. 

There  is  another  emphasis  in  modern  science  that 
throws  light  on  our  quest.  Vital  history,  as  well  as 
modern  science,  teaches  us  that  we  live  in  a  world  of 
changes  and  development,  not  in  a  world  of  absolutes. 

Change,  in  short,  is  no  longer  looked  upon  as  a  fall  from  grace, 
as  a  lapse  from  reality,  or  a  sign  of  imperfection  of  Being.    Mod- 
*  Jacks,  L.  P.,  Alchemy  of  Thought,  p.  239. 


312  DIRECTING  STUDY 

ern  science  no  longer  tries  to  find  some  fixed  form  or  essence 
behind  each  process  of  change.  Rather,  the  experimental 
method  tries  to  break  down  apparent  fixities  and  to  induce 
changes.  The  form  that  remains  unchanged  to  sense,  the  form 
of  seed  or  tree,  is  regarded  not  as  the  key  to  knowledge  of  the 
thing,  but  as  a  wall,  an  obstruction  to  be  broken  down.  Con- 
sequently the  scientific  man  experiments  with  this  and  that 
agency  applied  to  this  and  that  condition  until  something  begins 
to  happen,  until,  as  we  say,  there  is  something  doing.  He  as- 
sumes that  there  is  change  going  on  all  the  time,  that  there  is 
movement  within  each  thing  in  seeming  repose,  and  that  since 
the  process  is  veiled  from  perception  the  way  to  know  it  is  to 
bring  the  thing  into  novel  circumstances  until  changes  become 
evident.  In  short,  the  thing  which  is  to  be  accepted  and  paid 
heed  to  is  not  what  is  originally  given,  but  that  which  emerges 
after  the  thing  has  been  set  under  a  great  variety  of  circum- 
stances in  order  to  see  how  it  behaves.* 

If  this  is  a  fair  expression  of  the  scientific  temper, 
then  we  shall  have  no  difficulty  in  conceiving  the  pos- 
sibility of  applying  the  spirit  of  modern  science  to 
every  phase  of  modern  life.  The  artist  works  along 
this  line.  He  sets  up  his  ideal,  his  goal,  or  may  we 
not  say  some  hypothesis,  examines  his  data,  tests  his 
procedure  by  the  effects  of  his  action,  and  redefines 
his  ideal  in  terms  of  his  work.  The  experimental 
method  is  rich  in  suggestion  and  possibility  for  the 
emancipated  teacher. 

A  curious  contempt  for  individuality  has  developed 
in  recent  years.  The  supervisor,  not  infrequently, 
looks  upon  the  teacher  as  a  part  of  the  system,  em- 
ployed to  carry  out  orders  from  above.  Undue  im- 
portance is  attached  to  covering  the  ground  and  mak- 
ing sure  that  everybody  in  grade  so  and  so  shall  have 
arrived  on  schedule  time  in  a  given  course  of  instruc- 
*  Dewey,  Reconstruction  in  Philosophy,  p.  113. 


A  SHIFT  OF  EMPHASIS  313 

tion  at  a  predetermined  goal.  It  is  all  a  part  of  an 
emphasis  upon  the  ideal  of  organization.  Life  may  be 
sacrificed  to  the  majesty  of  plan  and  precision  even  in 
our  form  of  social  organization.  The  excuse  is  offered 
that  our  teachers  are  without  experience  and  that 
they  must  be  given  explicit  direction  in  great  detail. 
It  is  another  expression  of  status  and  a  mechanical 
theory  of  education.  May  we  not  insist  again  that 
it  is  only  as  the  teacher  actually  reconstructs  all  external 
orders,  courses  of  study,  methods  handed  down,  that 
any  vital  teaching  becomes  possible?  That  is  pre- 
cisely what  the  successful  teacher  has  always  done. 
He  must  soak  the  conclusions,  the  methods,  the  in- 
formation of  others  in  the  dye-vat  of  his  own  mental 
laboratory,  if  he  would  teach  in  any  true  sense.  More- 
over, the  school  conceived  as  a  laboratory  provides,  in 
itself,  an  opportunity  for  self-expression  of  both  teacher 
and  pupils.  It  is  not  enough  to  say  that  our  teachers 
could  be  trusted  with  a  large  measure  of  initiative  and 
personal  responsibility,  if  they  were  only  equal  to  the 
task;  the  situation  is  not  improved  by  denying  or 
limiting  the  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  respon- 
sible freedom.  Directing  study  requires  it  in  increas- 
ing measure.  Arbitrary  and  dogmatic  rules  of  gui- 
dance in  a  human  situation  cannot  be  laid  down  and 
carried  out  in  any  impersonal  manner. 

Two  views  of  science  have  been  sharply  contrasted. 
The  exact,  quantitative,  objective,  verifiable,  self- 
eliminating  science  may  be  employed,  now  and  again, 
for  the  purpose  of  raising  problems  for  further  inves- 
tigation. In  so  far  as  careful  study  is  provoked  this 
type  of  analysis  is  wholly  legitimate.  It  does  not 
furnish  a  constant  which  enables  one  to  nmke  pre- 


314  DIRECTING  STUDY 

diction  in  meeting  new  human  situations.  The  other 
conception  of  science,  the  experimental  method  of 
modern  science,  is  accepted  as  the  basis  for  a  new  gen- 
eral method.  The  teacher  is  dealing  with  changes  in 
boys  and  girls.  Directing  study  aims  to  introduce 
controls  and  to  bring  about  novel  circumstances  in 
order  that  we  may  study  behavior  and  see  how  learners 
react. 

Purpose  of  a  Formula  in  the  Educative  Process. — 
The  statistical  method,  the  examination,  the  standard 
test,  or  any  other  form  of  tool  used  in  diagnosis  should 
be  conceived,  not  as  a  finality,  but  as  a  means  in 
clarifying  some  aspect  of  a  situation  prior  to  raising 
productive  questions  about  the  thing  examined.  In 
applying  the  methods  of  exact  science,  we  need  to  be 
reminded  that  a  popular  fallacy  prevails  concerning 
the  certainties  of  statements  backed  up  by  cold  figures. 
Statisticians  are  not  always  right  simply  because  their 
figures  are  correct.  What  the  teacher  insists  upon 
knowing  is  whether  the  figures  are  being  rightly  ap- 
plied to  the  argument.  The  human  situation  is  ex- 
traordinarily complex  and  is  covered  by  no  definition 
or  formula. 

Furthermore,  these  external  methods  and  ready- 
made  devices  should  be  employed,  not  once,  but  many 
times.  Longer  periods  of  time  ought  to  be  laid  out 
within  which  a  given  test  or  tool  may  be  utilized  in 
the  examination  of  the  data  to  which  it  is  applied. 
The  habit  of  drawing  inferences  from  a  single  applica- 
tion of  some  method  or  test  is  a  species  of  modern  dog- 
matism parading  in  the  "livery  of  science."  No  form 
of  thinking  requires  more  careful  checking  upon  in- 
ferences than  the  deductions  which  are  made  upon  the 


A  SHIFT  OF  EMPHASIS  315 

application  of  the  tools  of  science  to  the  solution  of 
human  situations. 

If  some  accurate  record  of  a  thoroughgoing  test  of 
the  ability  or  intelligence  of  loo  children  in  some 
school  year,  the  3d  grade,  say,  or  9th  grade,  could 
be  made,  and  then  an  accurate  history  of  these  same 
individuals  could  be  made  available  for  some  years 
thereafter,  the  reliability  of  the  tests  themselves  could 
be  examined  with  a  high  degree  of  scientific  accuracy. 
And  again,  if  a  group  of  children  could  be  selected  and 
rated  as  to  their  capacities  and  then  subjected  to  a 
rigorous  and  sympathetic  type  of  education  under 
deliberate  controls  designed  to  release  every  potential- 
ity of  every  individual  of  the  group,  would  it  n-t  be 
possible  to  conceive  outcomes  of  a  character  enor- 
mously different  from  the  customary  remarks  one  hears 
about  young  people  in  the  making  and  what  they  may 
and  may  not  be  good  for?  All  of  this,  to  be  sure,  is 
hypothetical  and  perhaps  too  remote  for  practical 
consideration.  The  complexity  of  the  problem,  how- 
ever, is  suggested.  It  is  extremely  difficult  to  forecast 
what  any  normally  constituted  child  may  achieve 
under  conditions  conducive  to  growth  and  self-expres- 
sion. 

In  Table  I  is  represented  a  distribution  scheme  to 
indicate  the  positions  pupils  take  in  two  successive 
situations.  Each  pupil  in  the  study  is  designated  by 
a  number. 

Reading  from  left  to  right,  go  is  in  group  A,  12  in 
group  B,  etc. 

Reading  from  top  down,  go  is  in  the  third  quartile, 
12  in  the  second,  etc. 

A,  B,  C  stand  for  a  division  of  pupils  in  one  set  of 


316 


DIRECTING   STUDY 


TABLE  I 


I,  20,  3 

5,17,9 

90,24 

13 

26,  75,  85 

56,4s 

64,34 

2,31,  56 

37,50 

etc. 

27,  82,  60 

30 

33,  52,  63 

etc. 

etc. 

6,  7,  18 

29,48 

19,  57,  10 

38,  29,  14 

etc. 

55,61 

etc. 

70,  75.  86 

12 

etc. 

etc. 

23,  47,  59 

95,  15 

99,  86 

etc. 

43,  35,  91 

21,32,40 

103,  16 

etc. 

88,  loi 

95.  77,  73 
etc. 

etc. 

circumstances — a  semester,  year,  grade,  or  course  of 
instruction. 

I,  2,  3,  4  stand  for  a  division  of  the  same  pupils  in 
a  subsequent  situation  in  which  comparisons  are  made. 

A  and  i  are  the  highest  3d  and  4th  respectively  in 
the  divisions  made. 

A  descriptive  account  showing  a  possible  use  of  this 
scheme  of  making  comparisons  follows: 

An  example  of  what  seemed  to  be  a  fruitful  form  of 
study  based  upon  a  statistical  inquiry  consisted  in  an 
examination,  for  three  consecutive  years,  of  the  school 
marks  which  pupils  in  a  large  city  made  in  the  8th 
grade  and  in  the  first  year  of  the  high  school.  Marks 
were  distributed  in  a  percentage  array  and  given  a 
tertile  division  for  the  8  th  grade  both  for  the  general 


A  SHIFT  OF  EMPHASIS  317 

average  and  for  particular  studies  in  the  case  of  those 
closely  related  in  this  two-year  period.  Each  ward 
school  was  listed  separately  and  the  pupils  were  ac- 
counted for  in  the  9th  grade.  For  the  high  school 
the  marks  were  distributed  into  three  pass  marks  (i, 
2,  3)  and  a  failure  mark  (4).  A  chart  was  used  in- 
dicating the  position  the  pupil  held  in  the  8  th  grade 
and  the  position  he  earned  in  the  9th  grade.  Each 
pupil  was  designated  by  a  number.  The  chart  con- 
tained twelve  squares,  three  one  way,  four  the  other. 
If  a  pupil  was  found  in  the  highest  third  of  the  8  th 
grade,  and  also  in  the  group  of  those  passing  with  the 
highest  mark  in  the  9  th  grade,  there  was  a  high  degree 
of  correlation,  likewise  for  the  pupil  in  the  second  tertile 
in  the  8  th  grade  who  fell  into  the  second  pass  group  in 
the  9th  grade.  If  the  numbers  banked  above  the  diag- 
onal of  squares  containing  "perfect"  correlations  or 
below,  it  indicated  clearly  the  relative  positions  which 
the  pupils  were  taking.  Those  pupils  who  gained  or 
lost  one  or  more  positions  could  be  readily  located. 

This  study,  when  first  presented  to  some  thirty  ward- 
school  principals  and  supervisors,  provoked  interest- 
ing comment.  All  sorts  of  explanations  were  offered 
in  the  case  of  the  desirable  and  undesirable  positions 
in  the  chart.  Ward  school  A,  it  was  confidently  as- 
serted, always  sent  to  the  high  school  bright  pupils, 
well  prepared.  "Nobody  ever  got  on  well  from  school 
Jlf."  "A  poor  showing  from  school  X  was  due  to  lack 
of  city  supervision,"  etc.  The  next  year  the  same  type 
of  study  was  made.  School  A  did  not  make  as  good 
a  showing  as  school  M.  School  X  did  remarkably 
well.  The  same  principals "  and  supervisors  were  not 
nearly  so  sure  of  their  footing  as  they  were  the  previous 


318  DIRECTING  STUDY 

year.  When  the  third  year's  study  was  presented,  no 
one  in  the  group  was  bold  enough  to  venture  an  opin- 
ion in  explanation  of  the  results. 

This  type  of  continuous  analysis  by  a  statistical 
method  seemed  to  be  productive  in  that  city.  It  af- 
forded a  basis  for  careful  investigation  of  the  facts 
and  served  to  develop  a  wholesome  tolerance.  It  gave 
some  school  principals  a  basis  for  new  courage  and 
enthusiasm  when  it  was  revealed  to  the  entire  super- 
visory staff  that  mere  opinion  and  uncritical  tradition 
could  not  be  trusted.  The  value  of  the  study  was  not 
found  in  the  facts  disclosed,  hut  rather  in  the  development 
of  new  attitudes  and  new  methods  in  supervision  as  well 
as  in  teaching.  It  was  not  maintained  by  the  high 
school  that  a  particular  ward  school  was  doing  poor 
work  simply  because  a  low  rating  was  made  by  its 
pupils  in  a  single  year.  There  was  cultivated  the  dis- 
position to  wait  on  experiment  and  new  data.  By 
such  a  continuous  study,  hinged  about  a  very  simple 
bit  of  statistical  analysis,  the  fact  of  a  considerable 
mobility  of  position  among  the  schools  was  noted. 
No  single  constant  was  revealed  such  as  "School  A 
always  sends  on  to  the  high  school  pupils  of  high  abil- 
ity and  splendid  preparation." 

The  tool,  the  formula  of  science,  the  x  plus  y  equals 
z,  is  in  constant  need  of  new  clothes.  The  constant  in 
the  formula  is  its  persistent  nakedness  and  insistent 
demand  for  new  apparel  for  every  occasion.  The  for- 
mula must  he  reclothed  with  every  use.  The  refinement 
of  technic  calls  for  a  modification  of  the  formula  it- 
self. That  is,  by  the  way,  the  issue  of  evolutionism  vs. 
absolutism.  The  real  question  has  turned  upon  the 
evolution  of  form  or  type.     With  the  scientific  tool 


A  SHIFT  OF  EMPHASIS  319 

the  scientific  mind  is  able  to  attack  the  process  veiled 
from  perception,  and  to  abstract  some  aspect  of  the 
situation,  thereby  preparing  the  way  for  raising  all 
sorts  of  questions  concerning  the  nature  of  the  thing 
under  examination.  What  is  disclosed  calls  for  further 
inquiry.  It  is  rather  difl&cult  to  consider  the  matter 
closed  as  long  as  life  is  there. 

The  tools  of  the  exact  sciences  are  to  be  used  in  the 
analysis  of  conditions.  The  prospector  in  his  search 
for  precious  ores  uses  his  tools  in  this  and  that  situa- 
tion. He  must  examine  the  results  of  his  efforts.  Not 
all  the  "diggings"  yield  gold.  Many  a  lead  is  aban- 
doned after  patient  investigation.  There  is  no  guar- 
anty of  certitude  merely  in  the  fact  that  reliable  tools 
are  employed. 

Scientific  Humanism. — The  practice  of  medicine 
furnishes  the  educator  a  fruitful  analogy.  The  phy- 
sician manages  his  case  by  employing  both  science  and 
art.  He  has  at  his  command  the  tools  of  modern  med- 
ical science.  The  physician  is,  first  of  all,  a  diagnosti- 
cian. He  examines,  analyzes,  tests  for  certain  reac- 
tions, and  then  prescribes  treatment.  The  develop- 
ment of  new  symptoms  calls  for  extended  analysis  of 
conditions  and  a  modification  of  treatment;  perhaps 
a  consulting  expert  is  called  in.  Now  and  again  there 
is  a  differentiation  of  functions.  One  physician  be- 
comes a  skilled  diagnostician.  The  treatment  is  turned 
over  to  a  group  of  doctors  and  nurses  skilled  in  their 
special  work.  It  is  significant  to  the  educator  to  note 
the  fact  that  the  physician  adopts  the  experimental 
method.  He  modifies  the  treatment  in  terms  of  the 
reaction  of  his  patient.  There  is  no  disposition  to  dis- 
miss the  case  if  recovery  is  not  evident  upon  first  treat- 


320  DIRECTING  STUDY 

ment.  The  patient  is  not  reminded  that  he  is  hope- 
less nor  made  to  feel  that  he  cannot  recover.  Respon- 
sibility is  assumed.  If  a  serious  condition  develops, 
the  physician  is  there;  no  spurious  excuses  are  offered. 
Out  of  a  spirit  of  service,  essentially  that,  he  will  stay 
with  his  case  even  unto  death.  There  is  in  all  this  a 
beautiful  blending  of  science  and  humanism. 

Moreover,  while  it  may  be  misleading  to  try  to  esti- 
mate the  relative  significance  of  the  science  and  art 
of  medical  practice  in  general,  yet  it  is,  perhaps,  a 
suggestive  departure  for  educational  practice.  It  is 
no  depreciation  of  the  science  of  medicine  to  discover 
that  in  the  practice  of  medicine  it  is  only  about  lo 
per  cent  science  and  90  per  cent  art.  The  part  that  is 
science  is  tremendously  significant  and  far-reaching. 
The  art  side  is  likewise  significant.  It  has  been  urged 
that  certain  forms  of  treatment  by  means  of  electrical 
appliances  are  of  no  avail  unless  the  patient  wants  to 
recover,  and  with  the  desire  to  recover  an  active  effort 
to  respond  to  treatment  is  imperative.  When  it  comes 
to  the  case  of  John  Smith  sick  as  to  scarlet  fever,  the 
task  of  medicine  at  that  juncture  is  not  so  much  to 
find  a  cure  for  scarlet  fever  as  it  is  to  cure  this  par- 
ticular individual  sick  as  to  this  particular  ailment. 
The  field  of  preventive  medicine  is  fully  recognized. 
There  may  be  demonstrable  scientific  procedures  in 
education  of  comparable  sort.  It  would  be  absurd  to 
disregard  any  fairly  well-established  procedure  merely 
for  the  sake  of  novelty. 

The  inferences  are  numerous  from  the  analogy  of 
medicine.  We  frequently  hear  it  said,  "Now  that 
education  is  about  to  become  scientific,"  as  medicine 
is,  etc.    And  it  is  a  tremendously  significant  factor  in 


A  SHIFT  OF  EMPHASIS  321 

educational  redirection  if  it  could  be  demonstrated 
that  even  5  per  cent  or  i  per  cent  of  our  task  could 
be  approached  with  definite  and  reliable  scientific 
tools.  We  should  then  have  a  delicate  instrument  by 
which  analysis  and  diagnosis  could  be  initiated  and 
by  which  problems  could  be  disclosed  and  defined  for 
further  investigation.  The  human  situation  would 
still  call  for  a  vast  amount  of  art.  It  is  not  to  be  ex- 
pected that  the  whole  of  life,  or  a  considerable  part 
of  life,  will  ever  be  reduced  to  a  quantitative,  self- 
eliminating  basis. 

If  we  concede,  however,  the  far-reaching  importance 
of  the  effect  of  science  upon  medicine,  even  though 
there  are  still  vast  areas  untouched  and  unconquered 
(the  respiratory  diseases,  for  example),  we  shall  be  in 
a  position  to  appreciate  the  significance  of  the  begin- 
nings made  in  scientific  education,  no  matter  how 
meagre  they  may  be.  The  lesson  that  we  ought  to 
learn  is  perfectly  clear.  The  new  teacher  will  be  less 
a  trainer  of  the  mind  and  far  more  a  diagnostician  and 
a  director.  He  will  be  prepared  to  make  such  analysis 
as  is  possible  with  our  modem  tools.  He  will  examine, 
test  by  controlled  experiment,  prescribe  treatment, 
and  by  careful  checking  of  results  he  will  not  fail  to 
modify  treatment  in  terms  of  the  reaction  of  his  cases. 
He  will  be  alert  to  changing  conditions,  to  new  symp- 
toms, and  improvement.  A  faithful  application  of  the 
experimental  method  would  obviate  the  exasperating 
practice  of  shifting  responsibility  upon  the  institution 
from  which  the  pupils  came.  The  physician-minded 
teacher  and  administrator  will  be  concerned  mainly 
with  the  procedure  employed  in  handling  the  case 
under  their  treatment.    It  will  not  be  so  easy  to  shift 


322  DIRECTING  STUDY 

the  burden  of  responsibility  when  this  conct^aon  pre- 
vails. If  the  student  is  not  on  the  road  to  recovery,  a 
fresh  analysis  of  the  case  may  call  stressfully  for  a 
modification  of  the  treatment.  Until  the  teacher  and 
the  institution  have  carried  out  both  analysis  of  con- 
ditions and  reasonable  modifications  of  treatment,  it 
is  hazardous  to  pronounce  final  judgment  upon  the 
capacity  of  pupils  in  difficulty. 

Individuality  and  Common  Interests. — The  claims 
of  individuahty  within  the  bonds  of  fellowship  and 
the  release  of  potentialities  may  be  regarded  as  the 
supreme  task  of  education.  A  proper  emphasis  on  the 
social  side  of  education  obviates  the  fallacy  of  com- 
plete isolation  of  individual  cases  in  teaching — a  prac- 
tice that  would  be  uneconomical  if  not  prohibitive. 
The  class  group  must  be  retained  in  our  schools.  The 
problem  of  regimentation  is  becoming  more  complex 
with  the  increasing  numbers  of  pupils  in  our  higher 
grades.  A  recognition  of  the  social  principle  in  pro- 
cedure values  may  enable  the  school  to  deal  with  its 
problem  of  numbers  more  effectively  than  is  the  case 
in  conventional  practice  and,  at  the  same  time,  make 
provision  for  the  release  of  potentiality.  These  two 
objectives  imply  a  co-operative  emphasis  upon  the 
common  elements  (principles,  as  we  have  seen)  and  also 
a  clear  recognition  of  individual  power  and  capacity 
within  these  general  organizing  principles. 

The  central  fact  of  life  itself,  the  fact  of  a  vital  im- 
pulse to  grow,  furnishes  the  teacher  a  common  in- 
tegrating and  organizing  principle  upon  which  to  pro- 
ceed in  the  development  of  conditions  designed  to  foster 
the  full  expression  of  each  individual  in  the  group. 
Individual  differences  are  not  the  dominant  fact  in 


A  SHIFT  OF  EMPHASIS  323 

any  living  form — plant,  animal,  or  human  being.  The 
essential  phenomenon  is  life  itself,  with  tendencies  and 
general  habits  working  out  in  the  direction  of  self- 
fulfilment  and  self -effectuation.  The  uniqueness  of 
individuality  may  be  but  a  small  fraction  of  the  total 
issue  of  one's  Hfe,  and  yet  just  that  element  which 
gives  meaning  and  significance  to  the  whole — the 
leaven,  so  to  speak,  in  the  total  mass.  To  be  able  to 
recognize  the  common  fact  of  life  as  the  core  and  focus 
of  our  collective  efforts  and  at  the  same  time  to  recog- 
nize and  appreciate  the  significance  of  that  differen- 
tiating element  of  individuality — that  particular  factor 
of  distinguishing  character  in  each  person — these  two 
ways  of  looking  at  the  teaching  situation  are  deemed 
essential  in  approaching  the  problem  of  directing 
study. 

For  example,  one  pupil  in  a  class  in  English  may 
express  himself  in  excellent  terms  on  the  topic  of  "wire- 
less telegraphy,"  another  on  the  "automobile,"  an- 
other on  "The  Village  Blacksmith,"  another  on 
"Balanced  Ration,"  etc.  Uniformity  either  in  ma- 
terial or  in  response  is  clearly  secondary.  The  essen- 
tial matter  is  expression  of  ideas  in  good  form.  The 
particular  type  of  interest  in  this  situation  is  utilized 
as  a  means  and  not  an  end  in  the  accomplishment  of 
the  major  purpose  of  the  exercise  or  project.  It  is 
important  to  keep  in  mind  a  practical  integration  of 
means  and  ends.  The  formalist  is  in  constant  danger 
of  becoming  indolent  in  the  use  of  ready-made  and 
fully  accredited  sanctions.  The  inevitable  tendency 
in  such  emphasis  is  materialism  and  a  mechanical 
routine.  On  the  other  hand,  a  disregard  of  the  means 
of  education  leads  to  a  spurious  sentimentalism.    Ends 


324  DIRECTING  STUDY 

and  ideals  considered  alone,  divorced  from  the  prac- 
tical means  by  which  they  are  to  be  attained,  have 
controlled  educational  practice  when  scientific  method 
has  been  disparaged. 

Individual  differences  are  often  unduly  exaggerated 
in  the  conventional  schoolroom  procedure  and  also  in 
the  inferences  drawn  from  the  results  of  tests  of  vari- 
ous sorts.  The  case  of  science  as  a  factor  in  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine  is  suggestive  here.  The  far-reaching 
significance  of  the  small  amount  of  science  in  any  field 
consists  mainly  in  the  fact  that  the  total  issue  is  viewed 
in  a  vitally  different  way  on  account  of  the  vast  array 
of  new  problems  raised  by  the  apparently  meagre 
amount  of  actual  science  employed.  So  it  is  in  the 
matter  of  individual  differences.  The  small  amount 
of  actual  difference  in  comparison  with  the  whole  of 
one's  expression  or  life  is  vitally  significant  just  because 
an  analysis  of  that  difference  discloses  to  the  student 
of  education  a  productive  line  of  experimentation  for 
affecting  the  character  of  the  total  results  in  the  edu- 
cative process.  The  difficulty  with  methods  of  uni- 
formity is  the  fact  that  "that  something"  which  is 
capable  of  acting  as  a  leaven  of  the  whole  mass  is  in- 
adequately stressed.  We  may  call  that  leaven  the 
spark  or  uniqueness  of  individuality.  Too  often  a 
devotion  to  the  machinery  of  education  leads  to  a 
blind  acceptance  of  the  philosophy  expressed  by  Mr. 
Dooley:  "If  ye  disciver  a  hivenly  spark,  water  it, 
water  it." 

An  examination,  disclosing  marks  all  the  way  from 
20  per  cent  or  less  up  to  100  per  cent,  is  not  a  true  basis 
for  inference  that  the  pupils  examined  differ  by  so 
much  in  capacity  or  in  original  powers  in  toto.    One 


A  SHIFT  OF  EMPHASIS  325 

pupil  may  or  may  not  be  three  times  as  capable  as 
another  in  any  original  or  developmental  sense.  The 
numerical  differences  tend  to  distort  the  real  differ- 
ences. A  test  of  the  more  modern  type  likewise  dis- 
closes differences  ranging  in  the  intelligence  quotient 
from,  say,  70  to  150  in  a  given  group.  Such  a  scale 
expresses  relative  differences.  It  is  true  that  the  nu- 
merical symbols  attached  to  the  results  indicate 
remarkable  differences.  Again,  it  is  well  to  consider 
the  total  issue  and  the  relation  which  any  abstracted 
aspect  of  life  may  bear  to  the  whole  of  it.  The  actual 
difference  in  that  small  margin  of  differences  in  orig- 
inality may  be  greater  or  less  than  is  indicated  in  the 
numerical  means  employed  to  express  our  thinking 
about  human  situations. 

Teachers  who  deal  with  concrete  human  material 
fully  appreciate  the  inertness  of  some  individuals  under 
uniformity  of  treatment.  If  the  ''hivenly  spark"  was 
ever  present,  it  at  least  seems  never  to  have  stirred 
some  bodies  to  intellectual  and  moral  awakening. 
There  is  a  disposition,  now  and  again,  to  believe  that 
some  stolid  masses  have  never  had  that  bit  of  leaven 
to  stir  to  activity.  All  this  may  be  due  to  circum- 
stance; it  may  be  accounted  for  by  original  nature. 
The  patent  fact  is  that  these  impossible  individuals 
have  in  a  great  many  instances  surprised  the  school- 
master and  the  critic  by  waking  up  later  to  the  fine 
points  of  the  game — by  making  what  the  world  in 
general  calls  a  success.  It  is  not  presumed  that  any 
specific  is  to  be  found  in  directing  study  that  will  en- 
able teachers  to  overcome  all  our  present  defects.  It 
is,  however,  logically  possible  that  a  greater  emphasis 
laid  on  self-activity,  and  less  on  formalism,  may  be 


326  DIRECTING  STUDY 

the  means  of  releasing  potentialities  more  widely  than 
has  been  evident  in  the  recitation  system.  A  change 
in  circumstances  so  simple  as  that  of  having  pupils 
work  in  partnerships  at  the  board  rather  than  to  re- 
quire them  to  sit  in  their  assigned  pews  for  an  hour 
in  recitation,  explanation,  and  in  paying  attention 
may  serve  to  indicate  a  departure  in  the  new  direc- 
tion. A  big  growing  boy  of  sixteen  or  eighteen  with 
an  enormous  capacity  for  the  consumption  of  food  is 
not  adapted  to  the  requirements  of  passivity  so  often 
superimposed  by  the  methods  of  our  school  system. 
He  may  be  reduced  to  a  condition  of  vegetating.  Any 
one  who  has  tried  the  experiment  of  partnership  teach- 
ing with  such  boys  can  testify  to  marked  changes  in 
them.  They  may  be  unable  in  the  passive  or  inactive 
physical  mood  to  respond  with  any  degree  of  intel- 
ligence or  excellence,  whereas,  by  the  more  active  re- 
quirements of  the  various  forms  of  partnership  work, 
they  may  respond  surprisingly  well  even  on  a  warm 
spring-day  afternoon  in  a  class  period  of  sixty  to  seventy 
minutes.  The  same  proposition  applies  with  equal 
force  to  all  members  of  a  working  class  group. 

Again,  it  is  urged  that  the  search  for  a  constant,  a 
final  category  in  which  to  classify  our  pupils,  does  not 
constitute  a  real  problem  for  the  teacher.  The  experi- 
mental method  with  physician-minded  teachers  is  a 
promising  departure  and  it  lies  at  the  very  heart  of 
directing  study.  If  the  pupil  fails  to  respond  to  one 
kind  of  treatment,  the  urgent  demand  of  the  new  pro- 
cedure is  to  analyze,  examine,  diagnose  the  case  and 
modify  the  treatment  in  terms  of  the  reactions  de- 
tected, and  to  go  forward  with  courage  in  such  redirec- 
tion of  practice  as  conditions  seem  to  warrant.     The 


*      A  SfflFT  OF  EMPHASIS  327 

modifications  will  appear  within  those  narrow  margins 
of  individuality  rather  than  in  the  main  body  of  or- 
ganizing principles.  In  other  words,  the  problem  of 
directing  study  lies  primarily  in  the  zone  of  activities 
which  are  directly  concerned  with  points  of  uniqueness 
of  personality.  It  is  a  matter  of  getting  at  that  leaven- 
ing principle  in  each  individual,  assured  that  if  it  is 
somehow  applied  in  each  individual  in  his  own  best 
mode  of  excellence  the  work  will  be  done.  Or  to  use 
another  figure:  the  problem  of  directing  study  lies 
in  the  many-sided  ways  of  assisting  learners  in  getting 
and  keeping  the  belts  on  their  own  generators.  When 
the  powers  of  pupils  are  geared  up  for  work,  the  way  to 
vital  education  is  open.  There  is  no  universal  panacea 
in  this  matter.  The  old  way  of  urging  boys  to  apply 
themselves  with  due  diligence  will  be  employed.  The 
importance  of  that  "heave  of  the  will"  is  not  to  be 
neglected.  What  will  be  avoided  is  sole  reliance  upon 
a  mere  hortatory  type  of  classroom  ethics  and  a  dis- 
position to  regard  intellectual  interests  as  something 
inherited  or  dependent  upon  natural  selection.  Con- 
ditions of  learning  and  mastery  should  receive  constant 
attention  in  the  new  procedure.  No  one  is  to  be  put 
aside  or  held  back  because  of  inequalities  in  desirable 
habits  of  study  and  achievements.  Directing  study 
is  to  be  approached  in  a  liberal,  experimental  attitude 
of  mind.  Many  good  and  effective  ways  will  be  em- 
ployed by  the  teacher  who  has  become  a  diagnostician 
— one  who  analyzes  conditions,  and  develops  skill  as  a 
director  of  activities. 

A  Lesson  from  the  Old  Rural  School. — The  problem 
of  directing  study  is  many-sided.  If  the  unique  quali- 
ties of  personality  are  to  be  recognized  in  our  pupils, 


328  DIRECTING  STUDY 

it  follows  that  the  teacher  must  develop  unusual  ad- 
ministrative and  managerial  capacity.  It  is  a  new- 
challenge  to  study  and  manage  individuals  in  a  work- 
ing group  of  some  thirty  pupils.  Directing  activity 
calls  for  alertness,  resourcefulness,  initiative,  and  mas- 
tery. One  must  be  a  teacher,  not  of  a  set  lesson  with 
its  boundaries  fixed,  but  a  teacher  of  the  subject  in 
this  procedure,  as  well  as  an  expert  diagnostician  and 
an  efficient  director. 

The  old-fashioned  rural  school,  at  its  best,  exhibited 
some  meritorious  qualities  which  may  serve  to  suggest 
points  of  departure  for  our  procedure.  No  brief  is 
held  for  that  outworn  yet  quite  persistent  and  per- 
vasive institution.  One  who  was  schooled  there  and 
has  taught  in  such  a  school  is  vividly  aware  of  the 
problem  of  managing  the  proverbial  thirty-three  classes 
a  day.  The  little  tots  in  the  primer  class  demand  at- 
tention at  this  moment;  the  big  boys  and  girls,  sixteen 
to  twenty-one,  are  there  as  well  as  all  the  groups  be- 
tween these  two  extremes  in  the  scale.  The  teacher 
had  to  be  alert  to  individual  differences  and  to  marked 
ranges  of  advancement  and  achievement.  One  had 
to  teach  the  simple  number  combinations  up  to  Ray's 
Higher  Arithmetic  or  perhaps  Algebra,  all  in  a  day's 
work.  We  used  to  have  a  book  on  Intellectual  Arith- 
metic— ^problems  to  be  done  mentally,  that  is,  without 
slate  and  pencil  or  blackboard.  The  beginners  were 
struggling  with  their  words  cat,  dog,  run,  and  new  and 
sled,  etc.,  the  advanced  classes  were  exposed  to  frag- 
ments of  the  masterpieces  in  such  historic  books  as 
McGufey^s  Readers.  Here  were  forty  to  sixty  pupils 
in  an  ungraded  room  and  one  schoolmaster.  That 
was  a  real  job.    There  was,  perforce,  much  that  had 


A  SHIFT  OF  EMPHASIS  329 

to  do  with  keeping  school  and  hearing  the  lessons  said. 
It  was  a  busy  place  and  there  was  little  there  to  do 
with.  It  was  book  learning  and  often  essentially  a 
memorizing  school. 

With  all  the  disadvantages  inherent  in  this  old 
school,  some  elements  of  strength  may  be  mentioned. 

The  graded  system  directs  attention  to  group  medi- 
ocrity. There  is  no  opportunity  for  direct  comparisons 
of  advancement  and  achievement.  The  pupil  in  the 
5th  grade,  for  example,  is  not  reminded  in  explicit 
terms  or  by  direct  observation  of  his  status  with  re- 
spect to  what  he  might  have  been  able  to  do  in  the 
ist  or  3d  grade,  nor  is  he  directly  aware  of  what  lies 
ahead.  The  graded  system  presents  a  more  or  less 
closed  or  shut-in  view  of  the  position  of  the  pupil  in 
the  educational  ladder,  in  so  far  as  the  pupil  himself 
is  concerned.  The  old  school,  meagre  and  ineffective 
as  it  was,  offered  the  pupil,  at  least,  a  means  of 
locating  himself  in  the  scale.  There  were  concrete 
forms  of  experience  that  enabled  the  child  in  the 
earlier  years  to  look  upon  those  (to  him)  intellectual 
giants  in  the  advanced  classes  who  could  spell  big  words 
with  comparative  ease  and  recite  generous  portions 
from  the  book.  On  the  other  hand,  those  in  the  more 
advanced  classes  could  look  back  upon  the  lower 
classes,  gaining  thereby  some  notion  of  their  own  prog- 
ress. In  view  of  the  fact  that  this  type  of  school  was 
impoverished,  lacking  in  library  and  equipment,  a 
shocking  amount  of  time  was  spent  in  listening  to  each 
other's  performances.  There  was  offered  opportunity, 
again  and  again,  for  vicarious  reviews.  No  doubt  some 
information  became  a  permanent  possession  of  those 
pupils  exposed,  as  they  were,  repeatedly  to  this  pro- 


330  DIRECTING  STUDY 

cedure.  It  may  account  for  the  notion  that  pupils 
in  the  old  school  were  better  grounded  in  the  rudi- 
ments of  learning  than  the  more  fortunate  children  of 
to-day  in  the  well-equipped  graded  school.  There  is 
no  valid  evidence,  however,  that  they  were  better 
equipped  in  this  respect,  and,  moreover,  there  are 
other  values  and  outcomes  to  be  considered  apart 
from  a  limited  capacity  to  retain  a  few  fundamental 
facts  of  knowledge. 

The  particular  lesson  to  be  gained  from  the  ungraded 
school  is  the  range  of  responsibilities  of  the  teacher. 
He  was  compelled  to  adapt  his  teaching,  daily,  to  vary- 
ing needs  and  circumstances.  If  mathematics,  it  re- 
quired of  him  appreciation  of  the  learner's  powers  in 
the  comprehension  of  simple  number  combination  on 
up  through  fractions,  and  problems  in  mensuration. 
So  it  was  in  every  main  department  of  the  curriculum. 
Adaptability,  versatility,  administrative  acumen,  and 
appreciative  understanding  of  all  sorts  of  capacity 
and  stages  of  advancement  were  necessary  qualities 
for  successful  performance  in  the  one-room  rural  school. 
Individual  needs  were  constantly  brought  to  the  fore. 
The  pupil  really  became  the  educative  unit.  Small 
groups  of  two  to  six  or  eight  formed  the  class  unit  in 
so  far  as  class  sections  were  possible.  It  is  interesting 
to  note  the  fact  that  in  the  earlier  day,  before  the  rural 
school  took  on  city  airs  in  elaborate  gradations  and 
promotional  schemes,  the  pupil  was  given  many  op- 
portunities to  compete  on  the  open  basis  of  demon- 
strated ability  and  merit.  In  the  spelling-bee  and 
similar  contests  the  youngster  of  whatever  age  won 
his  position  in  the  group.  No  one  was  held  back  for 
the  superficial  reason  that  he  must  spend  a  certain 


A  SHIFT  OF  EMPHASIS  331 

number  of  years  in  attaining  some  predetermined  goal. 
The  pupil  in  reading  and  arithmetic,  all  studies  for 
that,  was  permitted  to  associate  himself  with  those 
of  equal  attainment,  no  matter  what  the  differences 
might  be  in  age  and  years  of  schooling.  In  contrast, 
the  teacher  of  a  given  grade  in  a  city  school  system  or 
the  teacher  of  one  class  section  at  a  time  would  have 
little  appreciation  of  the  problems  of  the  country 
school-teacher  in  the  one-room  school.  Those  who 
have  had  experience  there  know  that  it  was  a  vital 
human  situation,  a  big  family  with  many  difficult 
problems  constantly  challenging  the  teacher. 

Some  experience  of  that  sort  prepares  one  for  a  better 
conception  of  the  departure  of  directing  study  in  terms 
of  individual  needs  with  a  deliberate  emphasis  on  work- 
ing toward  unity  and  co-ordinating  ideals  through  the 
self-activity  of  all.  The  graded-school  system  lends 
itself  readily  to  all  the  disadvantages  of  group  medi- 
ocrity. The  tendency  too  frequently  is  to  regard  a 
given  group  or  grade  as  possessing  equal  abilities.  In 
fact,  any  selected  group  in  a  given  grade  is  likely  to  be 
conceived  as  being  a  uniform  group.  It  is  difficult  to 
start  with  the  individual.  The  solution  does  not  lie 
in  a  return  to  the  ungraded  rural-school  type.  The 
purpose  of  this  digression  is  merely  to  set  forth  a 
possible  illustration  which  may  serve  to  make  vivid 
the  responsibility  of  the  teacher  who  attempts  to  start 
with  the  individual  as  the  educative  unit  instead  of 
the  class. 

Again,  it  should  be  noted  that  the  teacher  in  a  given 
grade  or  a  teacher  of  a  special  subject  in  a  particular 
year  is  not  reminded  constantly  of  the  varying  degrees 
of  capacity  and  achievement  of  pupils  in  any  prin- 


332  DIRECTING  STUDY 

ciple  which  underlies  a  big  realization  or  subject.  The 
tendency  to  shift  responsibility  is  well-nigh  universal. 
The  teacher  who  sees  his  particular  sector  of  interests 
narrowly  can  blame  to  his  heart's  content  the  teacher 
in  the  preceding  grade  or  in  a  neighboring  department. 
The  rural  school-teacher  could  also  indulge  in  the 
luxury  of  heaping  opprobrium  on  his  predecessor,  but 
he,  at  least,  had  to  face  the  results  of  his  own  teaching 
in  so  far  as  the  effects  of  his  work  in  one  subject  were 
transferred  to  another.  How  to  obviate  the  separa- 
tion which  is  everywhere  found  in  our  graded  system 
and  to  build  up  organic  relations  constitutes  a  real 
problem.  The  practice  of  disposing  of  dabs  of  informa- 
tion through  the  processes  of  lesson  assigning,  lesson 
hearing,  review,  and  examination  needs  constant  and 
critical  analysis.  The  old-fashioned  school  affords  just 
a  suggestion,  merely,  not  a  specific  at  all. 

Perhaps  we  shall  have  to  bring  about  a  new  emphasis 
upon  soundly  organizing  principles  which  must  be 
made  to  run  through  years  of  learning  by  and  through 
which  brute  facts  of  information,  problems  of  all  sorts, 
and  data  of  great  variety  are  to  be  conceived.  The 
practice  of  covering  the  ground  is  certainly  not  ac- 
ceptable or  final.  The  pupil  who  resorts  to  the  excuse 
that  he  has  had  this  and  that  in  some  previous  year  or 
course  and  is  therefore  not  expected  to  know  it  now 
indicates,  in  a  way,  a  questionable  emphasis.  Until 
facts  are  used  in  the  exemplification  of  abiding  prin- 
ciples, they  will  escape  us  no  matter  how  effective 
mechanical  drill  may  be.  A  real  progression  within 
clearly  defined  organizing  principles  is  yet  to  be  real- 
ized in  practically  all  upper-grade  and  high-school 
subjects.    It  is  not  at  all  diflficult  to  understand  why 


A  SHIFT  OF  EMPHASIS  335 

pupils  dismiss  what  they  have  half  learned  or  only 
partially  mastered.  The  continuing  principles,  binding, 
together  a  sequence  of  courses  of  instruction  in  a  major 
field  of  education,  are  hazy  at  best,  and  hardly  ever 
made  explicit  for  the  learner.  He  may  not  be  aware 
that  he  has  done  more  than  cover  so  many  pages  of 
this  and  that  with  rapid  progress  in  disposing  of  sec- 
tions of  the  courses  he  is  pursuing.  The  spirit  of  a 
subject  is  too  seldom  incorporated  into  one's  living. 
The  high-school  pupil,  as  a  rule,  disposes  of  his  books 
after  passing  the  course.  He  rarely  takes  up  his  alge- 
bra, Latin,  or  "required  readings"  just  to  see  what  he 
can  do  with  them  after  his  marks  in  the  courses  are 
recorded. 

It  should  not  be  assumed  that  pupils  are  equipped 
with  readily  transferable  qualities.  One  of  the  prob- 
lems of  teaching  is  to  get  pupils  to  use  what  they  know 
and  to  rise  to  their  possibilities.  For  example,  slovenly 
habits  of  English  may  be  partially  overcome  by  a  co- 
operative drive  for  good  form  in  any  subject — science,, 
history,  Latin.  Clear  thinking  and  effective  perform- 
ance in  any  course  require  good  English;  in  fact, 
mathematics  (or  any  other  subject)  in  which  shoddy 
expression  is  tolerated  is  shoddy  mathematics.  The 
task  confronting  every  teacher  is  essentially  that  of 
assisting  boys  and  girls  in  the  adventure  of  thinking 
clearly  and  fully  the  work  in  hand.  When  there  is  a 
whole-hearted  concentration  of  energy  in  the  chal- 
lenge, a  full  and  free  release  of  one's  powers  in  the 
effort  to  achieve  results  with  some  sense  of  mastery, 
education  is  assuredly  going  on. 

Self-Ezpression. — ^Educators  who  are  Exponents  of 
self-activity  are  frequently  misunderstood.    Eagerness. 


334  DIRECTING  STUDY 

to  emphasize  the  creative  activities  of  life  may  account 
for  an  apparent  lack  of  interest  in  routine  work.  There 
are  educators  who  would  devote  the  period  of  elemen- 
tary and  secondary  education  to  assimilative  activities, 
the  theory  being  that  productive  scholarship  and  crea- 
tive thinking  are  to  be  postponed  to  a  later  time  in 
higher  education.  On  the  side  of  method  and  discipline 
the  formalist  would  urge  a  more  or  less  repressive  type 
of  school  in  which  docility  and  the  dogma  of  acceptance 
prevail.  The  extreme  form  of  training  (not  education) 
is  illustrated  in  the  Prussian  schoolmaster  who  bids 
his  pupils  follow  him,  saying:  "Listen  to  me  so  that 
you  can  tell  me  back  what  I  am  telling  you."  Cer- 
tainly by  the  time  the  high  school  is  reached  the 
American  teacher  is  ready  to  begin  to  say  to  his  pupils : 
"Now  think  clearly,  honestly,  fairly,  resolutely,  mod- 
estly, and  do  not  fear  to  stand  by  your  conclusions." 

Two  types  of  activities  should  be  recognized  and 
harmonized — the  conservative  and  the  creative.  In 
the  earlier  years  the  former,  no  doubt,  predominate. 
Some  organic  and  functional  integration  of  these  ac- 
tivities is  urged  for  the  adolescent.  Self-expression 
is  not  limited  to  the  latter.  The  child  holds  tenaciously 
to  his  possessions.  He  brooks  no  change  in  the  stories 
he  has  learned.  He  repeats  again  and  again  the  words, 
the  tables,  the  lines,  the  information  he  learns  in  the 
fundamental  social  arts  in  his  school.  By  repetition 
he  gains  a  mastery  of  his  world.  It  is  supererogation 
to  add  that  all  this  vigorous  life  in  the  conservative 
activities  is  a  genuine  form  of  self-expression. 

The  old-fashioned  school,  often  repressive,  carried 
the  emphasis  on  the  routine  tendency  throughout  its 
curriculum.    Dates  in  history,  grammatical  paradigms, 


A  SHIFT  OF  EMPHASIS  335 

formulas,  and  rules  were  mechanically  learned  and  re- 
peated over  and  over  until  they  could  be  recited  ver- 
batim. They  were  not  always  used  as  a  means  of 
punctuating  the  thinking  process  which  they  were 
meant  to  serve.  Much  useful  general  information, 
however,  was  acquired  in  this  way.  The  old  sing- 
song geography  lessons  with  a  monotonous  "Maine, 
Augusta  on  the  Kennebec;  Vermont,  Montpelier  on 
the  Onion,"  etc.,  were  effective  in  building  in  some 
nervous  systems  bonds  that  made  it  possible  to  keep 
Harrisburg  in  Pennsylvania  and  Helena  in  Montana. 
The  reaction  should  be  directed  against  the  unintel- 
ligent practices  of  former  days,  not  against  the  ac- 
quisition of  even  larger  funds  of  useful  information 
than  the  old  school  provided.  The  sane  advocates 
of  self-activity  do  not  taboo  memorizing  dates  in  his- 
tory if  they  are  used  to  support  a  body  of  historical 
information  and  ideas  that  would  be  vague  without 
them.  By  the  same  token,  a  mastery  of  algebraic 
manipulation  should  subserve  the  needs  of  mathe- 
matical thought.  It  is  a  strange  doctrine  indeed  and 
a  gratuitous  misapprehension  of  self-expression  to 
suppose  that  facts  and  exact  knowledge  are  non-essen- 
tials in  the  creative  activities  of  education. 

If  the  old  school  devoted  its  energies  too  exclusively 
to  mechanical  drill  and  mere  memory  work,  may  it 
not  be-  barely  possible  that  some  modern  schools  are 
in  danger  of  dismissing  too  readily  just  that  emphasis 
which  characterized  the  school  of  the  earlier  day  and 
thereby  miss  two  goals  instead  of  hitting  one  at  least  ? 
In  our  zeal  to  teach  pupils  to  think  we  ought  to  be  very 
sure  that  they  do  it.  The  test  of  thinking  is  by  no 
means  a  simple  one.    The  capacity  to  use  facts,  data, 


336  DIRECTING  STUDY 

information  in  the  solution  of  a  problem  is  not  always 
easily  detected  and  appraised.  It  has  always  been 
comparatively  easy  to  find  out  whether  one  knows  a 
thing.  The  answer  can  usually  be  set  over  against  a 
copy  or  pattern.  This  is  especially  true  in  memoriter 
forms  of  training.  Unless  there  is  evidence  of  creative 
activity  apart  from  and  perhaps  in  addition  to  the 
conservative  forms  of  testing,  what  is  called  self-ex- 
pression needs  to  be  constantly  challenged.  Suffice  it 
to  say  that  directing  activity  to  creative  ends  requires 
keener  insight  and  higher  art  and  much  harder  work 
than  hearing  lessons  said.  Self-activity  by  no  means 
implies  a  disregard  of  accredited  knowledge.  Self- 
expression  may  be  promoted  in  the  conservative  ac- 
tivities, but  it  would  be  a  meagre  education  that  failed 
to  equip  our  high-school  boys  and  girls  through  creative 
activities  for  a  changing  world.  An  attempt  will  be 
made  in  the  development  of  directing  study  (activity) 
to  work  out  an  integrating  and  functional  relation  be- 
tween authority  and  initiative. 

The  Individual  and  Uniformity. — The  doctrine  of 
uniformity  has  accentuated  the  notion  of  minimum 
essentials  of  subject-matter  (content).  Each  course 
of  instruction  is  conceived  to  contain  an  irreducible 
or  an  inescapable  minimum.  All  the  pupils  of  a  given 
class  are  expected  to  master  to  some  extent,  at  least, 
the  prescribed  work  of  the  course.  The  tendency  is 
to  strike  an  average  body  of  accredited  materials  of 
instruction  and  to  institute  some  methodology  that 
will  insure  a  high  percentage  of  successes  in  this  mini- 
mum content.  The  question  arises  in  this  practice: 
"For  whom  is  the  minimum  prescribed?"  Certainly 
the  "average"  pupil  is  a  myth.     Logically  it  would 


A  SHIFT  OF  EMPHASIS  337 

appear  that  each  pupil  should  be  given  his  particular 
minimum,  if  any  attempt  is  made  to  adjust  subject- 
matter  to  individual  needs  and  capacity.  A  pro- 
gramme of  individual  adjustment  in  terms  of  content 
of  subject-matter  seems  utterly  hopeless,  if  not  in- 
superable. Moreover,  the  practice  of  trying  to  fit  all 
members  of  a  class  group  to  a  Procrustean  curriculum 
is  becoming  increasingly  unsatisfactory  with  the  prog- 
ress which  is  being  made  in  the  study  and  appreciation 
of  individual  differences.  After  working  into  a  course 
or  a  challenge,  it  would  seem  to  be  desirable  to  select 
a  certain  body  of  material  in  which  real  mastery  may 
be  relentlessly  insisted  upon.  Perhaps  such  material 
worked  into  first  by  the  whole  class  by  individual  and 
collective  effort  might  be  regarded  an  essential  for 
certain  pupils  in  the  group  who  find  it  impossible,  ap- 
parently, to  accomplish  more  than  that  amount. 

The  discussion  in  the  preceding  chapters  raises  very 
definitely  the  problem  of  making  adequate  provision 
for  the  uniqueness  of  the  individual  within  our  ordi- 
nary classroom  organization.  The  individual,  rather 
than  the  class,  is  the  educative  unit  in  this  new  ap- 
proach. Instead  of  starting  with  the  class  as  the  unit 
and  seeking  ways  for  the  self-expression  of  each  in- 
dividual, we  start  with  the  individual  and  seek  to  find 
ways  of  co-ordinating  and  unifying  our  ideals  in  and 
through  progressive  and  responsible  forms  of  self- 
activity. 

The  pupils  of  high  possibility  should  be  given  every 
opportunity  for  the  release  of  their  potentialities.  En- 
thusiasm for  directing  study  grows  out  of  the  proposi- 
tion that  it  may  prove  to  be  a  productive  procedure 
to  this  end.    The  elimination  of  waste,  useless  routine, 


338  DIRECTING  STUDY 

and  gratuitous  explanation  and  delineation  of  the  ob- 
vious frees  energy  for  valuable  work.  There  is  no  time 
wasted  in  trying  to  find  out  by  futile  recitation  methods 
whether  the  pupils  know  what  the  teacher  is  perfectly 
sure  they  do  not  know.  If  the  pupils  of  exceptional 
capacity  are  stimulated  to  work  up  to  their  maximum 
power,  the  procedure  in  which  that  occurs  is  highly 
commendable.  The  practical  situations  in  the  vast 
majority  of  cases  make  it  impossible  to  work  out  a 
programme  of  segregation  and  congregation  of  pupils 
of  ability.  In  the  main,  pupils  of  wide  ranges  of  ability 
must  be  educated  in  the  class  group.  Administrative 
difficulties  in  the  plan  of  bringing  together  pupils  of 
alleged  equalities  are  insuperable.  It  is  not  to  be  con- 
tended that  no  failures  will  appear  in  this  new  pro- 
cedure. It  may  be  urged,  however,  that  even  the  busi- 
ness of  taking  care  of  pupils  failing  may  become  more 
intelligent  than  usually  happens  in  the  recitation  sys- 
tem. In  making  the  best  possible  provision  for  the 
development  of  the  full  measure  of  possibility  of  every 
pupil,  those  individuals  of  splendid  promise  should  be 
given  every  conceivable  opportunity  for  progress  com- 
mensurate with  their  developing  powers.  It  is  for  this 
reason  that  we  are  urging  that  no  arbitrary  or  sug- 
gestive limitations  be  set  up  such  as  ready-made  and 
predetermining  minimum  essentials  of  content.  Some 
broadly  defined  and  perhaps  dehmited  field  of  prin- 
ciples may  be  set  forth  for  given  courses.  Principles, 
however,  are  indeterminate;  mastery  of  them  is  only 
relative  at  best.  Yet  it  is  entirely  valid  and  altogether 
valuable  to  work  toward  a  real  mastery  of  certain 
materials  designed  to  illustrate  these  principles.  The 
practice  of  passing  pupils  on  a  mark  of  70  or  75  pro- 


A  SHIFT  OF  EMPHASIS  339 

motes  half-learning  or  even  less.  At  all  events,  mas- 
tery in  any  real  sense  is  not  achieved.  By  insisting 
that  a  mark  below  90,  say,  shall  not  be  acceptable  in 
the  material  selected  from  time  to  time  for  mastery 
will  produce  a  new  sensation  among  the  careless  pupils 
and  the  intellectual  loafers.  Such  a  plan  allows  10 
per  cent  margin  for  human  frailties  and  obviates  the 
perfection  standard  that  seems  to  be  persistently  asso- 
ciated with  100  per  cent.  To  lay  out  as  the  class  pro- 
ceeds into  a  new  challenge  certain  specific  material  for 
mastery,  and  then  to  hold  to  some  such  standard  as 
suggested  above,  might  serve  to  promote  a  keener  in- 
tellectual interest  than  usually  occurs.  Much  depends 
upon  what  is  comprehended  within  the  10  per  cent 
margin.  Clerical  errors,  some  important  elements  over- 
looked in  proof-reading,  and  perhaps  the  omission  of 
the  "sacred  comma,"  are  suggestive  types  of  the  hu- 
man frailties  to  be  considered  in  estimating  or  rating 
such  performances  as  are  contemplated  in  this  test  for 
mastery.  Even  this  check  need  not  apply  to  all  mem- 
bers of  a  class  section  or  group.  As  noted  above,  we 
may  devise  such  flexible  standards  as  the  new  situation 
warrants.  Perhaps  three  or  four  or  more  of  a  given 
class  may  be  discovered  in  the  journey  who  are  able 
to  master  only  a  limited  amount  of  material  as  a  basis 
upon  which  the  lowest  passing  mark  of  the  school  is 
given.  It  would  be  a  wholesome  practice  to  insist 
with  relentless  vigor  that  a  mastery  of  something  shall 
really  be  had.  The  highest  emerging  third  or  fourth 
of  a  working  group  are  far  beyond  any  such  prescribed 
materials.  They  should  not  be  tempted  to  believe 
that  satisfaction  of  such  formal  requirements  is  at  all 
adequate.    All  of  this  is  an  adventure  in  the  quest  of 


340  DIRECTING  STUDY 

a  procedure  that  will  furnish  incentives  for  the  capa- 
ble to  make  such  progress  as  lies  within  their  powers. 
For  the  alert  teacher  who  is  always  human  (and  rarely 
a  pedagogue)  there  is  an  alluring  opportunity  for  splen- 
did guidance  in  the  field  of  prescribed  temptations  for 
those  boys  and  girls  who  gain  a  real  sense  of  power 
and  mastery.  Few  potential  students  are  worked  to 
death;   they  are  often  bored  to  death. 

In  developing  a  procedure  based  upon  differentials 
on  a  sliding  scale  any  diagnostic  means  that  will  en- 
able teachers  to  economize  time  and  energy  should  be 
freely  employed.  The  standard  test  may  be  used  in 
this  connection  to  splendid  advantage.  It  ought  to 
be  possible  to  find  out  the  potential  capacity  of  pupils. 
One  who  makes  a  high  score  should  be  induced  to 
achieve  results  far  in  excess  of  one  who  is  rated  low. 
It  should  become  a  matter  of  school  ethics  that  those 
pupils  who  are  able  to  do  excellent  work  should  attain 
the  full  measure  of  their  possibilities.  There  is  too 
much  energizing  below  one's  best.  The  pupil  with  a 
low  index  in  any  valid  test  may  not  be  expected  to 
accomplish  what  others  in  his  class  may.  Rigid  and 
arbitrary  standards  will  have  no  unvarying  validity  in 
a  procedure  interpreted  in  terms  of  individual  powers. 
Energy  will  not  be  wasted  in  futile  attempts  to  bring 
the  D  pupil  (so  called)  up  to  the  standard  which  the 
A  pupil  ought  to  maintain  even  in  the  same  course  of 
instruction.  All  such  judgments  of  pupils'  capacities 
should  be  held  in  tentative  form.  The  danger  lies  in 
sticking  labels  on  boys  and  girls  and  thus  be  content 
with  this  as  a  final  judgment  in  the  case  of  the  pupils 
with  a  low  index.  In  all  attempts  to  classify  in- 
dividuals a  significant  trait  of  the  competent  teacher 


A  SHIFT  OF  EMPHASIS  341 

will  be  a  real  capacity  for  revision  of  opinion.  No 
static  conception  of  capacity  or  power  is  adequate 
in  the  experiment  of  educating  developing  human 
beings.  A  new  and  fresh  analysis  of  the  case  is  con- 
stantly demanded.  In  the  suggestion,  above,  no  pupil 
is  permanently  classified  and  held  to  be  unable  to  rise 
above  a  mastery  of  the  least  acceptable  body  of  ma- 
terial. The  way  should  be  left  open  for  trial  and  sue- 
cess.  One  who  fails  under  one  set  of  conditions  may 
start  on  the  road  to  recovery  in  a  new  situation.  The 
weighing-pan  for  the  child  is  not  a  proper  instrument 
with  which  to  feed  the  growing  youngster.  With  this 
procedure  in  mind  no  upper  limit  is  set  at  any  time  for 
any  pupil.  The  indeterminate-assignment  idea  is 
emphasized.  The  co-operative  project  level  of  teach- 
ing is  approximated.  Not  less,  but  far  more,  subject- 
matter,  facts,  and  information  will  be  used  under  the 
stimulus  of  a  real  challenge.  Lessons  will  not  be 
learned  to-day  for  the  primary  purposes  of  recitation 
to-morrow  and  an  examination  a  month  hence.  Power 
to  use  authority  (accredited  subject-matter)  in  work- 
ing out  very  definite  principles  in  a  functional  inter- 
pretation of  the  materials  of  instruction  will  be 
constantly  focussed  upon  in  the  procedure  of  directing 
study. 

Production  of  Changes  and  the  Product. — We,  as 
teachers,  are  concerned  with  the  production  of  changes 
in  our  pupils.  We  should  be  concerned  with  the  prob- 
lem of  developing  thinking  boys  and  girls.  It  is  rela- 
tively easy  to  determine  the  accuracy  with  which  pupils 
are  able  to  reproduce  results  of  training.  A  vast  array 
of  connections  can  be  built  up  in  the  assimilation  of 
dabs  of  information.     The  measurement  of  results  is 


342  DIRECTING  STUDY 

a  type  of  analysis  which  may  contribute  little,  if  any- 
thing, to  an  effective  procedure  to  be  employed  in  the 
production  of  desirable  changes  in  our  pupils.  It  is 
one  thing  to  test  the  ability  of  the  pupil  to  respond 
correctly  in  answering  the  "question,"  "What  is  the 
Monroe  Doctrine?"  or  "What  is  the  square  root  of 
sixteen?";  it  is  an  entirely  different  task  to  teach  the 
meaning  or  significance  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  or 
the  concept  of  square  root.  The  distinction  between 
the  product  and  the  process  of  producing  results  is 
sharply  drawn  in  this  connection  for  purposes  of  em- 
phasis. Our  problem  is  to  stimulate  and  guide  mental 
life  in  the  production  of  such  changes  as  are  deemed 
most  fruitful  for  the  individual  and  most  desirable  in 
our  social  order. 

Persistence  of  Absolutistic  Conceptions. — Even  if 
it  were  scientifically  possible  to  measure  the  general 
intelligence  or  mentaHty  of  boys  and  girls  and  to 
ascribe  to  each  a  proper  "intelligence  quotient"  (or 
some  other  expression  of  what  tends  to  become  a  final- 
ity or  a  fixity),  and  if  it  were  a  demonstrable  proposi- 
tion that  by  education  not  "one  cubit  could  be  added" 
to  one's  intellectual  stature  (a  contention  which  seems 
absurd  in  the  light  of  modern  science) — even  so,  we 
would  still  be  confronted  with  the  abiding  task  of  fabri- 
cating procedures  that  would  enable  each  individual 
to  attain  his  maximum  development.  And  then,  if  it 
should  appear  that  each  individual  is  potentially  able 
to  reach  his  particular  level  (his  '' intelligence  quotient'* 
level  of  90, 100, 120, 140,  or  what  not)  in  any  legitimate 
field  of  education  from  the  three  R's  to  an  appreciation 
of  "Hamlet,"  we  would  still  be  unable  to  find  any 
way  of  escaping  responsibility  for  the  development  of 


A  SHIFT  OF  EMPHASIS  343 

the  most  effective  procedures  possible  for  every  boy 
and  girl.  At  all  events,  a  deKberate  adherence  to  the 
method  of  modern  science  would  serve  to  develop  a 
new  attitude  toward  the  pupil  who  is  having  difficulty 
in  any  study  in  the  curriculum.  The  dogmatism  of 
the  absolutist  in  pronouncing  hasty  judgment  upon 
the  capacity  and  potentiality  of  pupils  is  well  known. 
It  is  quite  the  fashion  to  say  that  this  boy  is  born 
"short"  in  capacity  to  appreciate  or  to  learn  Latin, 
and  that  this  girl  is  biologically  unfit  for  the  study  of 
p,lgebra,  and  so  on.  Pedagogical  determinism  is  con- 
stantly creeping  into  the  teacher's  philosophy. 

If  one  takes  the  anatomical  view  of  the  organization 
of  nerve-cells  as  the  basis  of  intelligence,  and  assumes 
that  differences  in  ability  and  performance  are  due 
to  the  original  structure  of  the  nervous  system,  there 
is  a  temptation  to  prove  an  alibi  by  insisting  that  the 
student  who  fails  is  lacking  in  quality  or  number  of 
original  nerve-cells.  The  schoolmaster  for  ten  thou- 
sand years  has  been  adept  in  the  invention  of  formulas 
by  which  to  explain  the  delinquencies  of  his  pupils. 
Evidence  may  point  strongly  to  the  anatomical  basis 
of  intelligence,  and  it  is  logically  possible  that  differ- 
ences in  capacity  are  conditioned  by  the  number  of 
neurones.  Biologists  have  much  to  offer  in  this  analy- 
sis. The  functioning  of  special  areas  of  the  brain — the 
speech,  visual,  auditory,  and  memory  centres,  for  ex- 
ample— would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  higher  func- 
tions of  the  mind  are  conditioned  by  the  organization 
of  neurones.  Ine  unexplored  areas  of  the  brain  are 
an  inviting  field  for  the  scientist.  Little  is  yet  actually 
known  about  the  higher  powers  of  the  mind.  What  is 
known  does  not  enable  the  teacher  to  know  in  advance 


344  DIRECTING  STUDY 

of  the  journey  the  probable  success  of  a  given  candidate 
in  the  pursuit  of  the  multiplication  tables  or  the  laws 
of  falling  bodies.  The  experimental  method  obviates 
the  necessity  of  thinking  in  terms  of  absolutes;  it  "  tries 
to  break  down  apparent  fixities  and  to  induce  changes." 
If  every  form  of  educational  determinism  is  deleted 
from  our  philosophy,  the  challenge  of  instituting  our 
children  and  fledgling  youth  into  their  rich  social  and 
racial  heritage,  together  with  building  procedures  for 
the  release  of  potentialities,  is  a  superb  challenge. 

Habits  of  Study. — If,  in  our  thinking  about  the  de- 
velopment and  the  progress  of  the  individual,  we  start 
with  physiological  tendencies  and  work  up  through 
habituation,  we  ought  to  be  impressed  with  the  high 
potentiality  for  uprise  and  downslide  conditioned  by 
circumstance  and  opportunity.  The  possibilities  for 
progress  can  hardly  be  overestimated  when  normally 
constituted  children  and  youth  are  stimulated  and 
guided  in  both  early  home  training  and  schooling  along 
productive  lines  of  habit  building.  All  through  our 
theme  behavioristic  psychology  is  emphasized.  We 
speak  of  habits  of  all  sorts :  habits  of  expression,  habits 
of  attention,  habits  of  application,  habits  of  thinking, 
and  so  on.  The  common  way  of  saying,  "That  per- 
son is  a  creature  of  habits,"  expresses  the  significance 
we  attach  to  habits.  The  urge  to  excellence  is  per- 
haps mainly  an  organization  of  habits  in  terms  of 
some  particular  mode  of  achievement.  The  formation 
of  habits,  the  production  of  good  habits,  and  the  pre- 
vention of  bad  habits,  both  the  positive  and  the  nega- 
tive side  of  habituation — all  these  imply  a  possibility 
of  control  and  direction.  In  the  attempt  to  analyze 
initiative,  creativeness,  intelligence,  we  find  ourselves 


A  SHIFT  OF  EMPHASIS  345 

working  definitely  into  explanations  and  discussions 
of  ways  or  habits  of  thinking.  The  pupil  who  is  given 
to  passivity,  never  taking  responsibility  for  a  forward 
drive  into  a  new  situation  unless  specifically  prodded 
on,  is  a  pupil  with  a  definite  organization  of  habits — 
the  habits  of  passivity  and  docihty.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  student  who  is  alert  to  new  situations,  who 
drives  ahead  on  his  own  account,  he,  too,  is  exhibiting 
a  system  of  habits — effective  habits  of  initiative.  We 
may  not  be  able  to  teach  pupils  how  to  study  before 
they  are  able  to  study,  just  as  we  may  not  be  able  to 
teach  a  boy  to  swim  prior  to  his  own  swimming;  but 
we  maintain  the  proposition  that  teaching  in  terms  of 
directing  activity  does  warrant  the  view  that  we  may 
bring  about  improvement  in  habits  of  study.  To  be 
sure,  our  adaptive  experience  is  expressed  in  terms  of 
habit;  inventive  inteUigence  makes  use  of  habits  under 
the  stimulus  of  problems  to  be  solved. 

Directing  study  may  be  partially  defined  as  a  technic 
of  building  economical  and  productive  habits  of  think- 
ing. It  is  maintained  that  deUberate  provision  should 
be  constantly  made  for  the  development  and  exercise 
of  the  pupils'  originality,  initiative,  responsibility,  and 
creativeness  as  well  as  the  assimilative  and  conservative 
activities.  These  qualities  may  escape  direct  methods 
of  development.  The  futiUty  of  commanding  pupils 
to  think  is  obvious.  To  be  content  with  external  forms 
of  attention  or  concentration  betrays  an  easy  and 
uncritical  acceptance  of  pedagogical  dogma.  Unless 
pupils  are  gaining  in  capacity  to  apply  their  powers 
to  real  tasks  the  school  is  not  performing  its  proper 
function;  unless  there  is  a  growing  sense  of  respon- 
sibility, a  developing  must-be  from  within,  the  pupil 


346  DIRECTING  STUDY 

may  actually  be  deteriorating  while  making  a  super- 
ficial progress  in  the  school.  An  effective  direction  of 
habits  of  work  would  seem  to  be  an  important  factor 
in  the  development  of  these  high  qualities  of  the  mind. 
It  is  not  enough  any  longer  to  point  with  pride  to  those 
who  have  passed  through  the  schools,  attributing  their 
successes  indiscriminately  to  the  schools  and  the  sub- 
jects pursued.  Other  factors  have  their  weight.  The 
rather  daring  programme  is  being  urged  that  a  more 
deliberate  emphasis  shall  be  given  to  the  development 
of  the  thinking  man  than  has  appeared  in  the  tradi- 
tional school. 

Many  other  aspects  of  the  problem  of  directing 
study  are  cited  in  preceding  discussions.  These  few 
tentative  statements  are  presented  for  the  purpose  of 
re-emphasizing  lines  of  departure  in  an  attempt  to  work 
into  a  new  general  methodology. 

Fixing  Responsibility. — After  all,  the  most  important 
thing  in  education  is  to  have  boys  and  girls  wanting 
to  learn.  For  the  ultimate  veto  lies  in  the  pupil.  If  he 
refuses  to  respond,  the  best  teaching  is  of  no  avail. 
Any  teacher  able  to  devise  procedures  in  which  con- 
spicuously large  numbers  of  pupils  really  want  to  mas- 
ter their  studies  transcends  accredited  "methods" 
and  grips  essential  values  in  stimulating  and  guiding 
mental  life.  The  desire  and  the  ability  to  lay  hold 
of  a  difficult  task  and  see  it  through  are  invaluable 
traits.  This  position  is  maintained  in  spite  of  the  con- 
troversy on  "mental  training."  It  is  indeed  a  "soft 
pedagogy"  that  encourages  any  relinquishment  of 
effort;  we  need  a  new  emphasis  on  continued  effort  in 
our  schools  to-day.  This  concession  is  frankly  made  to 
the  schoolmaster  who  is  prone  to  indulge  to  the  full 


A  SHIFT  OF  EMPHASIS  347 

his  inveterate  penchant  for  formalism.  "Accuracy 
and  exactness  of  thought  and  mind"  may  turn  out  to 
be  a  fiction  in  so  far  as  general  powers  are  concerned. 
There  may  be  no  priceless  power  gained  in  conquering 
diflSculties  as  such.  The  ability  to  stare  ox-like  a  tough, 
disagreeable  task  out  of  countenance  may  smack  of  a 
Puritanism  long  since  outgrown.  Nevertheless,  until 
the  exponents  of  progressive  education  find  a  technic 
by  which  direct  values  are  assured,  the  old  shibboleths 
of  the  formalist  will  still  be  found  serviceable  and  in 
a  sense  practical. 

The  school  loafer  is  a  menace  to  free  education.  The 
increasing  cost  of  high-school  and  higher  public  edu- 
cation is  becoming  a  serious  problem.  The  principle 
should  be  clearly  recognized  that  education  is  free 
only  in  the  sense  that  it  is  offered  to  those  boys  and 
girls  and  young  men  and  women  who  are  willing  to 
respond  and  to  take  their  full  share  of  responsibility 
in  seeing  to  it  that,  in  so  far  as  they  are  concerned, 
their  obligation  to  develop  themselves  to  the  full  mea- 
sure of  their  possibilities  is  fully  met.  This  does  not 
mean  a  denial  of  educational  opportunity  to  any  seri- 
ous-minded individual.  It  does  not  mean  a  prede- 
termined selection  of  ability  under  any  insidious  form 
of  aristocracy.  Any  student  prepared  to  enter  upon 
any  administrative  unit  of  the  public  system  of  edu- 
cation should  be  given  an  opportunity  to  try  his  powers. 
At  the  same  time,  it  would  seem  to  be  necessary  and 
fitting  to  remind  the  student  of  his  obligation.  Edu- 
cation should  be  made  free  to  those  who  put  forth 
effort  commensurate  with  their  developing  powers. 
Public  opinion,  and  particularly  school  public  opinion, 
should   be   educated  in  the  appreciation  of  the  cor- 


348    .  DIRECTING  STUDY 

relative  nature  of  rights  and  duties.  Youth  of  high- 
school  age  ought  to  be  able  to  understand  the  full 
significance  of  this  proposition  and  induced  to  act 
accordingly.  Doubtless  far  more  than  has  been  ac- 
compHshed  heretofore  could  be  done  to  help  pupils 
develop  a  keen  sense  of  personal  responsibility  for  the 
realization  of  their  own  possibilities  through  education. 

This  is  one  side  of  the  shield.  The  other  side  is 
necessarily  such  revaluation  and  readjustment  of  edu- 
cational practices  as  will  make  it  clearly  possible  for 
each  individual  to  grow  into  the  full  measure  of  his 
possibility.  It  ought  to  be  evident  that  the  pupil 
should  not  bear  the  entire  responsibility  in  the  dis- 
agreement between  himself  and  the  school.  All  sys- 
tems, theories,  principles,  "methods"  gain  a  new  sig- 
nificance with  every  application  to  life;  they  become 
fluid  in  their  use.  Rigid,  arbitrary,  and  dogmatic 
fixities  can  be  applied  to  inanimate  bodies  or  mere 
automatons.  The  spirit  of  the  experimental  method 
suggests  change  and  adaptability.  Fruitful  modifica- 
tions of  method  are  to  be  expected  in  any  attempt  to 
adjust  education  to  the  needs  of  pupils. 

The  science  which  is  applied  to  inanimate  objects 
is  not  the  kind  of  science  to  be  applied  to  the  art  of 
teaching.  The  science  which  enables  one  to  predict 
exact  outcomes  is  not  the  kind  of  science  which  can 
be  utilized  by  the  teacher  in  his  essential  problem  of 
stimulating  and  guiding  mental  life.  Just  what  to  do 
next  in  the  educative  process  never  falls  within  cut-and- 
dried  formulas.  Even  Spencer's  evolutionary  laws  fail 
us  as  a  guide  if  we  provide  any  place  in  our  philosophy 
for  the  exercise  of  creative  ability,  initiative,  inventive- 
ness.   Self-conscious  beings  find  little  comfort  in  rid- 


A  SHIFT  OF  EMPHASIS  349 

ing  on  the  back  of  some  mechanically  driven  evolu- 
tionary Pegasus.  The  issue  of  democracy  is  that  man 
has  a  share  in  building  his  worid  and  that  he  is  not  a 
mere  creature  of  an  external  law — the  same  yester- 
day, to-day,  and  forever. 

It  is  idle  to  talk  about  history  repeating  itself  in  a 
world  of  changes.  The  indolent  formalist  who  holds 
tenaciously  to  the  status  quo  and  the  mores  is  not  as- 
sisting the  potential  citizens  of  the  coming  generation 
to  cope  with  the  problems  of  the  new  age.  It  is  in- 
conceivable that  any  one  educated  to  think  in  terms 
of  the  modern-science  outlook  should  any  longer  main- 
tain the  dogmas  that  "Whatever  is,  is  right";  that 
"It  is;  therefore  it  ought  to  be";  that  "Human  na- 
ture cannot  be  changed  ";  or  that  "Since  we  have  al- 
ways had  war,  we  always  will,"  The  persistence  of 
such  determined  ignorance  can  be  explained  only  by 
uncritical  acceptance  of  an  old  philosophy  unsuited 
to  the  requirements  of  modern  life.  The  dogma  of 
acceptance,  blind  reliance  upon  authority,  resignation 
are  terms  and  attitudes  which  are  incompatible  with 
the  theory  of  development  and  growth,  and  a  world 
that  must  be  improved  by  human  effort.  When  Mar- 
garet Fuller  announced  that  "she  accepted  the  Uni- 
verse," Carlyle  answered:  "Gad,  she'd  better."  A 
more  modern  thinker  answered  her  by  saying:  "Gad, 
she'd  better  not.''  A  lip-service  to  knowledge  is  a  poor 
and  an  inadequate  preparation  to  meet  the  exigencies 
of  modern  life.  Henry  Adams  saw  the  difficulty  with 
the  current  practice  when  in  one  cryptic  sentence  in 
his  "Education"  he  remarked,  "Nothing  in  education 
is  so  astonishing  as  the  amount  of  ignorance  it  accumu- 
lates in  the  form  of  inert  facts." 


350  DIRECTING   STUDY 

Direction  of  Activity  as  Education. — Turning  from  the 
more  or  less  pessimistic  observations  upon  education 
and  teaching,  the  conception  of  education  as  direction 
of  activity  becomes  wholesome  and  inspiring.  Ex- 
perience, knowledge,  theory,  absolutes  of  every  con- 
ceivable variety,  must  be  continuously  reconstructed 
at  the  point  of  the  crisis  or  diflSculty  in  solving  the 
problems  of  life.  Intelligence  lays  hold  of  the  past, 
organizes  it,  and  reconstructs  it  for  the  purpose  of 
furnishing  the  will  a  point  from  which  to  embark  in 
doing  the  next  thing  in  a  changing  order.  In  a  sense, 
the  future  toward  which  we,  as  teachers,  are  constantly 
working  is  a  Plutonian  wilderness.  Intelligence  work- 
ing at  the  point  of  difficulty  furnishes  the  only  search- 
light available  for  guidance  in  the  solution  of  a  problem. 
Plan  and  purpose  are  not  predetermined;  they  are 
evolving  factors  in  a  changing,  growing  order — self- 
originating,  self-directing,  immanent. 

Without  a  problem  there  is  no  creative  thinking,  expresses 
the  central  principle  in  this  new  procedure.  For  the 
high  school  it  might  well  become  a  motto  toward  which 
all  activities  lead  and  the  guiding  influence  in  project- 
ing the  curriculum  into  increasing  areas.  The  teacher 
who  turns  from  the  primacy  of  subject-matter  to  the 
problem  of  directing  mental  life  at  the  point  of  diffi- 
culty faces  a  new  and  far-reaching  task.  The  thrill 
of  adventure  and  the  stirring  of  the  challenge  appeal 
to  cx)nstructive  minds  and  give  a  zest  to  life.  The 
programme  presupposes  both  a  disposition  to  study 
pupils  at  work  and  also  a  tremendous  responsibility 
in  devising  controls  that  will  insure  productive  effort. 
We  entertain  no  illusion  about  understanding  boys 
and  girls.    Our  ignorance  of  how  children  are  drawn 


A  SHIFT  OF  EMPHASIS  351 

toward  increased  social  efl&ciency  or  any  other  ob- 
jective is  appalling.  One  can  easily  agree  with  Dr. 
Thorndike  when  he  says:  "The  psychology  of  a  ten- 
year-old  boy  would  probably  involve  as  much  subject- 
matter  for  investigation  as  the  astronomy  of  a  solar 
system  or  the  geology  of  a  continent." 

Some  player  of  consummate  skill  may  aUege  that 
he  knows  all  the  possible  moves  in  the  game,  and  that 
no  matter  how  the  novice  proceeds  he,  the  perfect 
player,  is  doomed  to  win.  All  that,  however,  belongs  to 
a  world  made  perfect,  but  not  to  the  world  as  we  know 
it.  In  a  world  of  change  moral  hazards  must  be  taken 
when  venturing  on  the  uncharted  seas  of  human  con- 
duct. To  think  of  providing  the  will  with  a  point  of 
departure;  to  appreciate  the  significance  of  systems, 
formulas,  principles,  and  theories  which  are  ever  turn- 
ing fluid  when  applied  to  life  situations;  to  be  able  to 
reconstruct  experience  in  meeting  ever-new  situations 
in  the  spirit  of  the  experimental  scientist — such  a  gen- 
eral attitude  of  mind  is  essential  in  working  out  the 
thesis  of  directing  study  as  conceived  in  this  presenta- 
tion. 


SUGGESTIVE  HELPS  AND  PROBLEMS 

FOR  TEACHERS   IN  USING 

THIS   BOOK 

Almost  any  one  problem  selected  from  the  list  below 
might  prove  an  adequate  basis  for  a  profitable  study  or 
essay  for  any  group  of  teachers.  The  object  in  these 
suggestive  helps  is  to  find  out  not  whether  the  book  has 
been  read;  to  ascertain  not  whether  the  reader  knows 
what  the  book  says  on  page  so  and  so,  but  rather  to 
stimulate  creative  thinking  and  to  develop  a  problem- 
solving  attitude  toward  teaching.  These  questions 
with  their  settings  are  challenges.  Agreement  is  not 
sought.  Identity  of  opinion  is  ordinarily  quite  stupid 
indeed.  The  true  educator  suffers  the  pain  of  honest 
doubt;  he  rarely  enjoys  poor  pedagogical  health.  The 
hope  is  that  thought-provoking  discussions  may  be  pro- 
moted in  a  co-operative  study  of  these  questions  among 
teachers  and  their  professional  associates.  Parents, 
social  workers,  and  others  vitally  interested  in  schools 
and  public  welfare  may  be  invited  to  join  study  groups. 
It  is  suggested  that  a  study  group  be  formed  and  that 
debates  and  discussions  be  arranged  among  teachers 
and  supervisors,  using  any  part  of  the  material  sug- 
gested below  that  appears  to  be  inviting  and  potent. 
Perhaps  a  chapter  or  a  question  in  this  list  would  fur- 
nish a  basis  for  such  a  study  group  for  a  month  or  a 

353 


354         SUGGESTIVE  HELPS  AND   PROBLEMS 

year.  One  of  the  most  profitable  procedures  would  be 
to  conduct  an  experiment  along  the  lines  suggested  in 
Chapters  I  and  III  and  make  the  experiment  the  basis 
of  discussion  in  the  study  group. 

PREFACE 

1.  Out  of  the  statement  of  aims  formulate  in  your  own  way 
a  constructive  analysis  of  educational  practice  as  you  know  it 
and  suggest  modifications  for  improvement.  Take  a  school  you 
are  familiar  with ;  describe  what  goes  on  in  the  classroom,  evalu- 
ate what  you  see,  and  present  a  real  system  of  vital  education 
as  you  conceive  it  ought  to  be. 

2.  The  index,  intelligence  quotient,  I.  Q.,  is  the  ratio  between 
mental  age  and  chronological  age.  If  the  child  is  8  years  old  and 
tests  the  same  age  mentally,  the  I.  Q.  is  loo.  If  the  mental 
age  is  lo  and  the  chronological  age  is  8  (2  is  >^  of  8),  add  25,  and 
the  I.  Q.  is  125.  If  mental  age  is  6  and  chronological  age  is  8 
(2  is  yi  of  8),  subtract  25,  and  the  I.  Q.  is  75.  These  ratios  are 
worked  out  in  terms  of  retardation  and  acceleration.  Do  you 
think  a  child's  I.  Q.  (this  index)  is  likely  to  remain  permanent 
from  5  to  14  years  of  age?  Are  differences  in  the  intelligence 
quotients  due  to  differences  in  native  mentality  or  circumstances, 
such  as  health,  nutrition,  vitality,  temperament,  education  ?  Is 
there  such  a  thing  as  arrested  development  or  a  waking  up  to  the 
fine  points  of  the  game? 

3.  Study  the  purpose  of  education.  What  kind  of  minds 
are  being  made  in  the  schools  you  know  ?  Is  it  true  that  accep- 
tance of  beliefs  or  conclusions  has  characterized  education? 
Give  examples.  Try  the  experiment  of  asking  your  neighbor 
why  he  is  a  Methodist  or  Seventh  Day  Adventist,  a  republican 
or  democrat  in  party  politics,  and  then  challenge  the  reasons 
given.  Does  he  fly  passionately  to  a  defense  of  his  belief,  or  does 
he  calmly  examine  the  question  in  the  light  of  the  facts? 

4.  What  is  the  effect  of  having  students  learn  lessons  as  they 
do  ordinarily,  and  of  hearing  them  said  in  the  traditional  way  ? 
Is  the  practice  a  vital  improvement  on  rote  learning  ?  Does  the 
acceptance  of  ready-made  conclusions  promote  creative  think- 


SUGGESTIVE  HELPS  AND   PROBLEMS         355 

ing  or  develop  minds  expectant  of  change  ?    Indicate  a  procedure 
in  which  a  problem  may  be  analyzed  in  the  light  of  facts. 

5.  Do  you  hold  that  facts  (accredited  knowledge)  must  be 
had  before  thinking  can  be  carried  on?  How  do  you  account 
for  the  questions  of  the  little  child  before  entering  school  ?  Do 
we  first  gather  facts  and  then  do  some  thinking?  How  do  we 
think  ?  Did  you  ever  watch  a  beetle  with  his  load  trying  to  sur- 
mount an  obstacle  in  its  path  ?  Study  some  such  situation  and 
note  the  "  trial  and  error"  method,  and  relate  it  to  the  method  of 
"fumbling  and  success"  illustrated  in  the  laboratory  by  the 
inventor  or  scientist.  Do  you  recall  the  way  your  mind  worked 
as  you  solved  a  difficult  exercise  in  geometry  or  grammar?  Did 
the  beetle  think?    Did  you  think  in  that  difiicult  problem? 

6.  Keep  the  new  aim  of  education  in  mind  in  attacking  these 
exercises.  Describe  the  educated  man.  What  are  his  char- 
acteristics and  what  is  the  task  of  education  in  making  the  indi- 
vidual ? 

CHAPTER  I 

1.  What  is  the  function  of  the  teacher  in  this  threefold  re- 
lationship :  pupil,  subject,  teacher  ?  Can  a  person  impart  informa- 
tion? A  piece  of  pie  can  be  passed  over;  a  brick  can  be  hurled 
at  a  person.  Is  the  pupil  "a  hedge  to  be  trimmed,  or  a  torrent 
to  be  confined"?  Do  "we"  mould  the  child  in  school  or  does 
man  create  himself  by  his  own  activity? 

2.  "Only  when  an  effect  which  you  wish  to  produce  depends 
upon  a  fraction  or  preposition  are  such  things  humanly  worth 
knowing."  Is  this  a  sound,  valid,  and  valuable  guide  in  dealing 
with  the  materials  of  instruction?  We  used  to  teach  the  alpha- 
bet, learned  a  mass  of  combinations,  as  ab,  og,  im,  and  then  ad- 
vanced to  simple  words  as  cat,  at,  am,  dog.  Big  words  were 
taboo.  The  little  minds  had  to  march  along  in  a  lock-step,  regi- 
mental uniformity  from  the  "simple  to  the  complex."  Did 
they  learn  to  read  ?  Yes,  in  spite  of  the  system !  Should  we 
teach  the  multiplication  tables  as  such,  or  conjugations  of  verbs 
as  such?  Justify  some  conventional  practice  in  the  fight  of 
these  facts  on  the  use  of  data,  and  the  way  reading  is  taught  to- 
day. 

3.  "Give  the  child  something  to  do  which  he  cannot  do 


356         SUGGESTIVE   HELPS  AND   PROBLEMS 

■without  finding  out  what  you  would  like  to  have  him  know/* 
Study  the  suggestive  exercises  in  Chapter  I  and  work  out  a  pro- 
jected challenge  in  some  original  way,  selecting  any  subject  or 
topic  with  which  you  are  fairly  familiar.  Try  a  word  list,  work- 
ing it  up  co-operatively  for  a  spelling  contest.  What  would  you 
do  with  the  prescribed  course  of  study  which  sets  a  minimum 
word  list  for  each  grade?  Would  you  follow  it  literally,  or  in- 
clude that  minimum  with  your  free  list?  Try  a  nature-study 
problem  or  a  general-science  problem.  Rainfall  maps  and 
forestry  maps  might  be  used.  Are  you  sure  pupils  in  the  upper 
grades  could  come  to  any  independent  judgments  in  the  use  of 
such  materials  ?  High  school  teachers  could  set  up  problems  in 
their  special  fields.  Distinguish  between  capacity  to  assimilate 
the  printed  page  in  a  regurgitation  of  lessons  and  a  productive, 
creative  use  of  materials  in  the  pursuit  of  a  problem. 

4.  Work  out  a  statement  of  what  our  civilization  would  be 
if  the  alphabet  and  printing  were  suddenly  obliterated.  What 
kind  of  world  would  we  have?  Try  to  divide  3245.65  by  248.5, 
using  the  Roman  notation.  A  Greek  mathematician  stepping 
into  our  modern  world  would  be  amazed  to  find  everybody  doing 
long  division.  Indicate  the  extent  to  which  human  powers  of 
abstraction  (thinking)  have  been  liberated  by  the  introduction 
of  the  arable  notation.  Did  it  ever  occur  to  you  that  our 
arithmetic,  as  well  as  our  modern  science,  came  from  the  Sara- 
cenic world,  but  was  delayed  some  four  or  five  centuries  because 
of  bigotry  and  prejudice?  The  "heathen  dogs"  could  not  give 
the  Christian  world  anything!  We  still  think  of  the  "Renais- 
sance" as  the  revival  of  learning;  perhaps  it  was  the  revival  of 
the  "palsy  of  a  doting  age".  Take  the  26  letters  of  the  alpha- 
bet and  multiply  i  by  2,  that  product  by  3,  and  the  new  product 
by  4,  and  so  on  until  you  have  multiplied  by  every  number  up 
to  26.  The  final  product  will  give  you  a  startling  conception  of 
the  possibilities  of  forming  new  combinations  out  of  simple  ele- 
ments. The  final  product  indicates  the  number  of  permutations 
these  26  elements  can  be  fashioned  into.  The  printer  throws 
down  the  type  and  creates  a  new  page  by  recombining  these 
simple  elements.  The  copy  mind  tries  to  collect  a  glorified  bag 
of  tricks  to  live  on;  the  alphabetical  mind  throws  down  the  type 
and  creates  a  new  movie  film  to  meet  the  new  situation.  "Fire, 
cattle-herding,  weaving,  pottery,  tillage,  horse-taming,  the  go- 


SUGGESTIVE  HELPS  AND   PROBLEMS         357 

ing  down  to  sea  in  ships  of  men  with  hearts  of  treble  brass," 
the  alphabet,  the  arabic  notation,  electromagnetism  (radio)  are 
all  world-shaking  events  and  discoveries  which  have  "commoved 
a  bewildered  humanity  which  found  itself  (with  each  discovery) 
raised  one  giddy  step  above  the  brute."  The  modern  machine 
(printing-press,  automobile,  locomotive,  dynamo)  has  been  made 
possible  by  arithmetic,  the  quadratic  equation,  etc.  The  differ- 
ence between  a  howling  savage  back  among  the  cavemen  and  a 
twentieth-century  man  in  civilized  America  is  not  so  much  a  dif- 
ference in  physiological  structure  as  a  difference  in  the  humanity 
(social  organization)  into  which  each  is  born.  Take  the  alpha- 
bet or  the  arabic  notation  and  work  out  a  statement  showing  how 
man's  powers  have  been  liberated  by  these  epoch-making  dis- 
coveries. What  do  you  think  of  any  child's  potentiality  for 
further  development  after  capacity  to  deal  with  words  in  new 
combinations  and  capacity  to  carry  on  computation  processes 
in  the  fimdamental  operations  have  been  acquired? 

5.  Have  you  ever  had  the  thrill  of  being  a  victim  of  such 
judges  of  manual  righteousness  as  the  square,  the  level,  and  the 
plumb-bob?  Try  to  use  your  opinions,  your  powers  of  per- 
suasion, your  theories  on  a  machine  that  refuses  to  go.  The  ma- 
chine is  an  "irreclaimable  rationalist."  Working  in  cement 
suggests  a  certain  sanity  in  fashioning  materials;  the  "Village 
Blacksmith"  yields  a  solidity  of  character.  The  Greeks  dealt 
with  ideas;  the  Saracenic  world  (9th  to  12  th  centuries)  dealt 
with  facts;  the  "Renaissance"  was  engaged  with  words,  often 
with  empty  verbalisms  and  hollow  presentment  of  ideas.  Out 
of  the  last  of  these  three  stages  we  have  had  "imitation,  more 
imitation,  and  more  strict  imitation."  What  has  been  the  effect 
upon  education  of  this  long  period  of  excessive  imitation  of  the 
past  ?  What  has  happened  in  the  material  world  during  the  past 
300  years  and  notably  in  the  past  50  years,  by  working  with 
facts  and  ideas,  by  analyzing  problems  in  the  light  of  facts? 
What  in  your  judgment  is  the  value  to  a  teacher  of  working  out 
some  tangible,  objective  (concrete)  project — a  bit  of  constructive 
art  work — such  as  the  making  of  a  real  design  to  work  by  or  the 
building  of  a  real  hat,  dress,  table,  or  wheel  in  a  machine? 

6.  What  do  you  say  when  the  boy  fails?  Do  you  say  he 
can't  learn  it,  or  that  he  has  not  learned  it  yet?  What  is  the 
effect  of  telling  a  boy  he  is  "no  good"?    Do  you  think  a  boy 


358         SUGGESTIVE  HELPS  AND   PROBLEMS 

labelled  incompetent  is  likely  to  prove  that  he  is  "no  good"? 
Are  we  prone  to  measure  (judge)  others  in  terms  of  our  par- 
ticular modes  of  excellence  (erudition  perhaps)  and  fail  to  ap- 
praise special  merit  in  other  lines?  Illustrate.  Do  teachers 
and  educators  mother  the  curriciilum  ?  Are  special  ways  of  edu- 
cational salvation  charted  and  jealously  guarded?  The  high 
churchman  of  England,  on  being  interrogated  as  to  whether  one 
might  be  saved  by  any  other  route,  replied  after  a  bit  of  agoniz- 
ing: "Well,  I  would  not  like  to  say  there  is  no  other  way,  but 
[after  a  lucid  interval]  no  gentleman  would  seek  any  other  way, 
don't  you  know?"  Suggest  a  definite  classroom  procedure  in 
which  you  can  give  scope  to  individuality.  Remember  the 
American  is  not  a  lock-step  man  in  the  making;  he  asks  to  set 
energies  free  in  order  to  release  values;  he  suffers  himself  to  be 
convinced,  not  to  be  commanded;  he  demands  a  regulated  free- 
dom, liberty  armed  with  the  law.  The  American  movement 
does  not  follow  a  road  already  made;  the  road  is  traced  as  the 
movement  goes  on.  Indicate  some  ways  of  squaring  procedure 
to  these  American  demands.  Is  the  child  ever  too  young  to 
begin  development  along  these  lines? 

7.  Try  the  experiment  of  directing  action  in  some  subject 
as  described  on  pages  15-25.  Write  a  diary  of  your  experiences 
in  your  experiment. 

8.  Set  up  a  definite  experiment  designed  to  arouse  curiosity. 
Take  any  problem  you  will.  Try  to  think  of  the  environment 
and  the  control  of  circumstances  in  which  the  pupil  is  stimulated 
to  becoming  a  reacting  agent. 

CHAPTER  II 

1.  What  is  the  business  of  the  teacher  in  the  lesson-hearing 
school?  Is  order  (obedience)  or  work  heaven's  first  law?  The 
little  fellow,  on  being  asked  what  he  was  doing  in  school,  replied, 
that  he  was  just  waiting  for  the  rest  of  them  to  catch  up.  Sug- 
gest ways  of  meeting  this  child's  dilemma.  Is  it  essential  that 
a  whole  class  should  work  in  uniformity — all  moving  along  by 
the  clock?     If  so,  why?     If  not,  what  then? 

2.  How  long  should  the  class  period  be  in  the  Junior  High 
School?  in  the  Senior  High  School?  What  would  you  suggest 
as  the  most  productive  use  to  be  made  of  a  class  period  of  40 


SUGGESTIVE   HELPS  AND   PROBLEMS         359 

minutes?  of  70  minutes?     What  are  pupils  doing  when  the 
teacher  and  a  single  pupil  are  engaged  in  a  recitation  dialogue? 

3.  What  is  the  value  of  the  recitation,  the  reiteration  of 
lessons?  Is  there  waste  in  the  system?  Can  it  be  avoided? 
Is  there  any  value  in  having  a  pupil  recite  a  thing  he  knows  per- 
fectly well?  What  is  the  value  in  it?  Is  there  any  value  in 
siphoning  vacuums  in  class,  compelling  all  to  pay  attention  to 
the  process?  If  so,  what?  Do  teachers  ask  pupils  questions 
which  they  know  they  cannot  answer  before  they  ask  them? 
Indicate  all  the  ways  of  wasting  time  and  energy  in  some  class 
you  have  examined. 

4.  How  would  you  direct  classroom  procedure  to  more  pro- 
ductive outcomes  than  are  usually  secured  in  the  conventional 
school?  Wovdd  it  be  profitable  to  have  every  pupil  working 
forward  at  his  own  best  rate  in  a  real  challenge?  What  would 
be  the  function  of  the  teacher  in  such  procedure  ? 

5.  What  are  the  disadvantages  in  making  the  class  the  unit 
of  instruction?  Can  you  make  the  pupil  the  educative  unit? 
If  so,  how  would  you  secure  unity?  Study  a  given  class  group 
as  follows:  assign  a  definite  set  task  of  10  exercises  or  5  pages. 
Try  to  find  out  what  each  pupil  accomplishes  (as  well  as  what 
his  father  and  mother  accomplish  in  assisting  in  the  preparation 
of  lessons).  Place  the  pupils  in  some  scale  according  to  your 
own  devising.  Then  try  another  plan:  have  the  same  pupils 
start,  all  on  their  marks,  and  work  forward  in  similar  material 
for  a  whole  class  period  (one  or  more)  and  compare  results  in 
the  two  situations.  Now  work  out  ten  significant  questions  to 
put  up  to  teachers  in  the  lesson-hearing  school.  What  is  to  be 
done  with  the  boy  who  solves  50  exercises  in  a  single  class  period 
under  the  stimulus  of  directed  guidance?  Also  what  is  to  be 
done  with  a  classmate  who  gets  only  3  exercises  in  the  same  time  ? 
Is  the  school  a  practising  ground  for  morality  for  either  when  10 
exercises  are  assigned  for  the  next  lesson,  with  a  swift  command, 
Class  excused? 

6.  What  opportunity  has  the  teacher  to  examine  the  habits 
of  work  of  pupils  in  the  recitation  and  lecture  systems?  De- 
vise some  procedure  in  which  habits  of  work  may  be  studied. 
Connect  procedures  with  educational  guidance. 


360         SUGGESTIVE  HELPS  AND   PROBLEMS 

CHAPTER  III 

Suggestion:  The  basis  for  appreciation  of  the  learning  proc- 
ess is  to  be  found  in  a  controlled  experiment  in  actual  learning. 
Teachers  are  urged  to  work  out  for  themselves  a  heroic  experi- 
ment in  mastering  some  problem  of  learning,  keeping  an  accurate 
check  on  the  progress  made  and  a  diary  of  their  experiences  from 
day  to  day.  Chapter  III  is  an  attempt  to  create  interest  in 
teacher  study.  Teachers  need  it  in  their  efforts  to  gain  adequate 
notions  about  pupils  at  work;  it  is  also  a  vital  way  of  improving 
teachers  in  service.  Supervisors  and  all  other  pedagogical  com- 
mandants who  go  about  advising  teachers  how  to  do  it  need  to 
study  their  own  mental  processes  in  a  vital  learning  problem 
of  their  own,  in  order  that  they  may  be  everlastingly  mindful  of 
backgrounds  and  difficulties  in  learning. 

1.  Work  out  a  controlled  experiment  such  as  is  suggested, 
p.  96  ff. 

2.  Is  capacity  to  recognize  a  simple  element  in  a  relatively 
simple  situation  a  guaranty  of  capacity  to  recognize  that  sim- 
ple element  in  a  relatively  more  complex  situation  (in  a  moving, 
learning  synthesis)  ?  Is  there  any  experimental  evidence  to 
support  either  an  affirmative  or  a  negative  answer  to  this  propo- 
sition ? 

3.  Is  inability  to  recognize  (know)  a  simple  element  in  a  sim- 
ple situation  (out  of  context)  a  criterion  of  inability  to  recognize 
or  use  that  simple  element  in  a  moving,  learning  situation? 
Supp>ort  the  answer  with  any  data  possible. 

4.  In  a  learning  process  (not  in  a  social-practical  world)  when 
is  a  response  (answer)  right  or  correct  and  when  is  it  wrong  or 
incorrect,  and  how  much  or  to  what  extent  may  it  be  either? 
Illustrate.  When  handwriting  is  appraised  does  just  ability 
"to  take  pen  in  hand"  and  make  a  blot  on  paper  have  any  sig- 
nificance ?  Where  is  just  no  ability  in  handwriting  to  be  located 
in  a  scale  of  differences  representing  results  in  handwriting  ? 

5.  When  one  tries  in  vain  to  recall  a  familiar  name  and  sub- 
sequently in  walking  along  indifferently  engaging  in  revery,  it 
comes  "to  mind,"  what  is  the  explanation?  Was  the  name  for- 
gotten? Study  the  problem  in  terms  of  the  things  that  lie  in 
the  focus  of  attention  now  and  then  out  in  the  marginal  areas — 
the  things  that  are  explicit  at  one  time  and  implicit  at  another. 


SUGGESTIVE   HELPS  AND   PROBLEMS         361 

Do  these  wily  facts  we  deal  with  in  teaching  play  hide  and  seek 
with  each  other  in  the  mass  meeting  of  the  mind?  When  are 
mistakes  evidences  of  progress? 

6.  When  pupils  say,  "I  can't  get  the  problem,"  "I  don't 
understand  it,"  what  is  the  real  difficulty? 

7.  Set  up  some  such  controlled  procedure  as  is  indicated  on 
pp.  120-125,  keep  a  record  of  progress  noting  experiences  in  di- 
recting the  work  in  hand,  and  present  a  brief  summary  of  conclu- 
sions and  values  derived  from  it.  Do  difficulties  come  to  a  group* 
of  working  students  by  the  clock  ?  Justify  the  formal  methods; 
of  having  thirty  pupils  in  any  class  attack  the  same  thing,  at: 
the  same  time,  in  the  same  way.  When  all  are  working  forward 
within  a  challenge  indicate  the  results.  Are  they  uniform?' 
What  is  the  justification  of  having  the  whole  class  pay  attention 
to  an  explanation,  or  to  a  review?  What  does  it  mean  to  direct 
the  pupil's  activity  at  the  point  of  difficiilty?  Do  teachers> 
talk  too  much  ? 

8.  Does  each  individual  develop  his  own  habits  of  work,  his 
own  intellectual  method?  Is  there  some  general  "frame  of 
reference"  within  which  each  individual  may  develop  his  own 
unique  patterns  of  work  and  thinking?  What  is  difficult  for 
one  pupil  may  be  perfectly  easy  for  another.  Illustrate,  if 
possible."  Is  it  a  waste  of  time  and  energy  to  hold  all  members 
of  the  class  to  a  regimental  uniformity?  What  are  some  ways 
of  making  provision  for  individuality  in  a  given  class  group? 


CHAPTER  IV 

1.  What  specific  aims  have  been  sought  in  the  topic  method  ? 
Is  there  any  way  to  organize  the  topic  procedure  so  that  every 
contribution  and  discussion  would  be  an  illumination  of  a  com- 
mon integrating  idea  or  principle?    Illustrate. 

2.  Select  any  course  of  instruction — English,  grammar, 
American  history,  geometry,  chemistry,  drawing — (or  any  other) 
and  work  out  a  statement  of  organizing  ideas  and  submit  a  few 
sets  of  illustrative  exercises  in  varying  amounts  to  make  clear 
the  practical  significance  of  differentials. 

3.  Explain  and  illustrate  the  indeterminate  assignment  idea. 
Use  any  material  in  which  there  is  a  fair  degree  of  familiarity. 


362         SUGGESTIVE  HELPS  AND   PROBLEMS 

4.  Present  a  statement  of  a  specific  preparation  of  the  new 
teacher  in  a  directing-study  procedure. 

5.  Is  it  possible  to  develop  in  students  at  work  the  habit  of 
working  mainly  for  the  "  wages  of  going  on  "  ?  Does  a  minimum 
essential  (a  set  lesson)  become  the  maximum  necessity?  What 
is  the  effect  upon  both  the  teacher  and  the  pupil  in  prescribing 
daily  set  lessons  under  methods  of  uniformity? 

6.  Who  in  the  game  of  contest  feels  the  sting  of  defeat? 
Is  there  not  a  vast  amount  of  soft  pedagogy  in  sentimental  talk 
about  the  boy,  5th  or  asth,  in  the  race?  Note  the  fact  that  all 
pupik,  those  having  the  lowest  score,  were  energizing  far  above 
any  minim;im  that  would  have  been  set.     (Pp.  168-172.) 

CHAPTER  V 

1.  Collect  information  in  a  specific  recitation  from  the  pupils 
on  what  each  one  is  doing  during  the  recitation.  Try  to  find  a 
typical  traditional  recitation.  It  would  be  illuminating  to  find 
out  just  what  each  individual  is  thinking  about  in  a  college  class 
under  the  lecture  system. 

2.  Does  the  recitation  system,  or  lecture  system,  promote 
passivity,  acceptance  pf  belief,  unchallenged  opinion  ?  How  can 
the  spectator  (in  class,  before  the  film,  in  front  of  the  book, 
facing  the  lecturer)  be  converted  into  a  participant?  Devise 
some  procedure  calculated  to  produce  reacting  agents  out  of  our 
passive  students. 

3.  In  what  sense  is  a  teacher's  primary  business  that  of 
fashioning  (shaping  or  building)  an  environment  in  which  crea- 
tive thinking  may  be  promoted? 

4.  Indicate  the  teacher's  task  in  directing  activity  in  a  defi- 
nite example.  Amplify,  What  am  I  to  do  next  in  this  situation  ? 
Locate  responsibility  of  teacher  and  pupil  in  a  procedure  in 
which  the  interaction  of  teaching  and  learning  prevails. 

5.  When  does  a  question  come  in  front  of  the  answer?  Do 
students  who  give  correct  answers  necessarily  know  the  correct 
answers  ? 

CHAPTER  VI 

I.  Work  out  a  distinction  between  a  mechanical  theory  of 
society  (or  education)  and  the  social  theory  of  society  (or  edu- 
cation). 


SUGGESTIVE  HELPS  AND   PROBLEMS         363 

2.  Explain  the  social  principle  in  relation  to  a  shared  life. 

3.  Is  it  possible  to  lay  down  definite  laws  or  rules  to  be  fol- 
lowed in  developing  or  teaching  aU  subjects?  Is  it  probable 
that  any  such  laws  are  applicable  to  the  mind's  way  of  operating 
before  a  challenge  or  problem?  When  the  emphasis  is  shifted 
from  the  primacy  of  subject-matter  and  mechanical  methods  to 
the  primacy  of  boys  and  girls  working  forward  in  a  challenge, 
what  becomes  of  such  devices  as  the  five  formal  steps? 

4.  Envisage  an  ideal  school;  describe  the  teacher  in  it;  paint 
a  vivid  word  picture  of  the  pupil  with  inhibitions  removed  and 
at  work  under  a  responsible  freedom. 

5.  Distinguish  between  art  and  science.  Is  prediction  possi- 
ble or  essential  in  a  human  situation?  Can  we  know  what  to 
do  next  in  dealing  with  human  behavior  ?  What  does  it  mean  to 
take  the  moral  hazard  ?  A  rule  is  laid  down  in  September  to  the 
effect  that  if  a  boy  plays  truant  in  March  he  will  be  required  to 
stay  after  school  five  consecutive  days  and  to  walk  217  parasangs 
round  and  round  the  building  each  day.  What's  wrong  with 
such  rules?  A  boy  misses  his  school  seven  times  in  a  hundred 
and  repeats  this  practice  often  enough  to  warrant  stating  it  as 
a  law.  Then  the  delinquent  boy  is  apprised  of  the  regularity 
of  his  absences.  He  proceeds  at  once  to  correct  the  matter. 
In  the  next  hundred  days  there  are  no  absences.  What  be- 
comes of  the  law?  A  rule  is  made  that  teachers  shall  not  use 
tobacco.  (Not  that  they  should  be  encouraged  to  do  so.) 
Anybody,  however  incompetent,  could  live  up  to  such  rules. 

6.  Does  the  scientific  method,  or  rather  the  method  of  the 
exp>erimental  scientist,  apply  in  the  moral  realm  and  in  the  art 
of  teaching?    (See  definition  of  scientific  method,  p.  372.) 

CHAPTER  VII 

1.  Define  freedom  as  capacity  and  relate  it  to  self -discipline 
with  a  working  distinction  between  a  real  freedom  and  a  mass  of 
loose  ideas — such  as  general  indulgence,  "personal  liberty," 
rights,  license,  anarchy  of  tolerance,  spurious  relinquishments 
of  idleness  and  asceticism,  honest  opinions,  and  neurotic  crav- 
ings to  paddle  one's  own  canoe  irrespective  of  social  restraints. 

2.  Study  a  half-dozen  successful  persons  whom  you  know, 
and  try  to  account  for  their  development.    Is  genius  or  talent 


364         SUGGESTIVE   HELPS  AND   PROBLEMS 

or  power  self -created  out  of  opportunity  to  grow  in  the  direction 
of  successful  experimentation  ?  What  is  the  effect  of  encouragers 
in  the  first  expressions  of  the  child  in  language,  music,  art,  use 
of  tools,  etc.  ?  Are  there  dispositions  or  impulses  to  grow  and 
habits  of  life  common  to  all  normally  constituted  human  beings 
out  of  which  potential  powers  may  be  realized? 

3.  Set  up  a  problem  in  which  initiative  may  be  developed. 
(See  chapter  I  and  pp.  125-126.)  Cite  a  clear-cut  example  of  the 
exercise  of  initiative  either  in  or  out  of  school. 

4.  Establish  the  relation  between  mechanical,  formal,  super- 
imposed methods  and  the  growth  of  initiative. 

CHAPTER  VIII 

1.  Indicate  the  task  of  education  in  terms  of  the  transmission 
of  our  social  heredity.  Make  a  clear  distinction  between  physio- 
logical heredity  and  social  heredity. 

2.  In  considering  diversification  of  capacities  and  powers  as 
a  dominant  characteristic  of  American  life  is  it  essential  to  try 
to  establish  upper  limits  for  any  individual?  Instead  of  think- 
ing of  the  equality  of  persons  or  of  differences  in  original  nature, 
would  it  not  be  a  wholesome  philosophy  to  start  with  each  indi- 
vidual as  a  developing  personality  with  measureless  capacity 
for  growth  and  self-realization?  Is  it  true  that  teaching  is 
concerned  with  the  thesis  that  success  is  a  function  of  effort  and 
opportunity  7 

3.  About  150  years  ago  it  was  quite  generally  held  that  it 
would  be  fatal  to  teach  all  children  to  read.  "Who  will  do  the 
unpleasant  types  of  work  if  everybody  is  taught  to  read?"  said 
the  called  and  chosen.  "Besides,"  they  said,  "there  are  large 
numbers  born  short,  who  have  not  sufficient  mentality  to  learn 
to  read  and  compute."  Is  long  division  the  most  difficult  stage, 
relatively  speaking,  in  mathematics  from  mere  counting  to  cal- 
culus? Nobody  any  longer  seriously  questions  the  ability  of 
children  to  master  long  division.  Teachers  face  the  task  with 
determination  and  confidence  that  it  shall  be  done.  Public 
opinion  supports  the  general  proposition  of  the  educability  of  all 
children  up  through  the  four  fundamental  social  arts — the  3  R's 
and  drawing  in  our  elementary  schools.  Is  a  girl  in  the  high 
school  biologically  unfit  for  the  study  and  mastery  of  algebra? 


SUGGESTIVE  HELPS  AND   PROBLEMS         365 

Is  any  boy  in  the  high  school  by  nature  incapacitated  for  the 
mastery  of  grammar  ?  May  not  high  school  education  now  in 
the  2oth  century  be  regarded  as  the  essential  basis  for  a  broad- 
casted intelligence — a  common  background  upon  which  to  focus 
every  person's  life?  All  boys  and  girls  in  the  high  school  can, 
if  they  will,  succeed  in  any  study  in  the  curriculum.  What  is 
your  reaction?  The  boy  is  tagged  as  failing  in  Latin  early  in 
the  year.  The  teacher  says  he  can't  learn  it  and  asks  to  have 
him  transferred  to  some  other  course.  The  boy  goes  into  stenog- 
raphy and  masters  it.  May  not  stenography  be  as  difficult  as 
Latin?    Account  for  failure  in  one  and  success  in  the  other. 

CHAPTER  IX 

1.  Is  a  philosophy  of  teaching  essential?  Is  there  a  danger 
in  pretending  not  to  have  a  philosophy  about  human  nature 
and  at  the  same  time  being  a  victim  of  a  most  pernicious  variety 
of  thinking  and  practice  in  dealing  with  a  human  situation? 

2.  Explain  the  purpose  of  a  scientific  principle  or  a  formula 
in  working  in  the  field  of  human  behavior.  Is  the  practice  of 
medicine  made  simpler  and  easier  by  the  introduction  of  our 
modern  scientific  technic?  Was  it  not  much  easier  in  the  days 
of  magic,  piUs,  and  nostrums?  A  proper  use  of  the  surgeon's 
instruments  requires  years  of  training,  high  skill,  and  technical 
ability.  Can  anybody  teach?  Teachers  are  now  required  to 
analyze,  diagnose,  study  the  "patients"  or  "cases,"  prescribe 
treatment,  and  if  the  "cases"  do  not  respond  further  diagnosis, 
analysis,  and  study  must  follow  and  a  change  in  treatment  be 
provided.     Has  this  suggestion  any  bearing  on  directing  study  ? 

3.  Is  the  dominant  purpose  of  the  high  school  the  training 
of  leaders?  Are  leaders  born,  i.  e.,  do  their  powers  depend  upon 
native  gifts  or  are  they  made  in  the  stream  of  life  ?  The  ques- 
tion of  the  "fitness"  of  children  used  to  be  raised  in  connection 
with  elementary  education.  That  is  ancient  history  now.  It 
is  contended  that  only  25  per  cent  to  30  per  cent  of  the  adolescent 
population  of  the  United  States  have  sufficient  mentality  to 
profit  by  a  high-school  education.  What  is  your  reaction  to  this 
assumption?  Public  elementary  and  secondary  education  is 
concerned  mainly  with  the  task  of  making  the  "common  man" 
an  efficient  participant  in  the  social,  moral,  intellectual,  material, 


366         SUGGESTIVE  HELPS  AND   PROBLEMS 

and  civic  life  of  the  community  and  the  nation  and  also  to  teach 
people  how  to  live  together  in  a  democracy.  Is  leadership  an 
emerging  quality  out  of  the  try-out  of  all  in  a  system  of  educa- 
tion in  which  resources  are  tapped  from  every  level  of  society? 
Is  not  the  responsibility  of  the  school  very  definitely  centred  in 
the  prop>osition  that  the  fullest  development  of  every  individual 
is  imperative?  In  what  procedure  will  it  be  possible  for  each 
individual  to  go  forward  at  his  own  best  rate  ?  Keep  in  mind 
the  call  for  individualism  and  the  need  of  developing  the  genius 
for  co-operation.  It  is  being  seriously  proposed  that,  beginning 
as  early  as  the  junior  high  school,  the  probable  "fitness"  of 
little  boys  and  girls  shall  be  ascertained  (five  levels  of  intelli- 
gence have  been  suggested) ,  and  that,  since  there  are  five  levels 
of  occupations  requiring  corresponding  levels  of  intelligence,  the 
pupils  shall  be  classified  so  as  to  match  levels  of  intelligence  with 
levels  of  occupations.  The  pupils  of  highest  intelligence  should 
be  channelled  into  a  curriculum  (and  classification)  that  would 
fit  them  for  the  "work  of  life"  requiring  the  highest  intelligence, 
etc.     What  do  you  think  about  it? 

4.  Thinking  is  a  function  of  habit.     Explain  this  proposition. 

5.  Without  a  problem  there  is  no  (creative)  thinking.  To 
what  extent  is  it  possible  to  develop  classroom  procedures  in 
the  direction  of  this  statement?  A  study  of  definitions,  ap- 
pended, may  prove  suggestive  in  attacking  the  problem. 


DEFINITION  AND   USE   OF  TERMS 

Alternate  leaderships — ^a  recognition  of  technical  and  trained 
ability  in  a  theory  of  society  based  upon  diversification  of  merits; 
a  new  basis  of  intelligent  co-operation  in  which  every  individual 
counts;  each  individual  retains  self-respect  by  his  unique  con- 
tribution in  a  shared  life;  the  teacher  is  appreciated,  not  for 
erudition,  but  for  expert  capacity  in  directing  activity,  in  be- 
coming a  consulting  expert,  in  stimidating  curiosity,  in  arousing 
enthusiasm. 

Americanism — a  social  theory  of  life  in  which  persons  are  price- 
less, measureless  in  capacity,  and  free — never  regarded  as  things, 
tools,  or  servants  to  be  fashioned  to  mechanical  ends;  each  per- 
son finds  (realizes)  the  purpose  of  his  life  by  living  it;  authentic 
Americanism  is  a  developing  synthesis  made  by  withdrawing 
from  each  element  (race  or  individual)  the  best  qualities  and  re- 
composing  them  in  a  symphony  of  ideals  and  practices;  the 
spirit  of  give-and-take  and  the  policy  of  live-and-let-live  charac- 
terize a  true  democratic  society;  in  it  all  are  true  sportsmen  and 
equal  in  that  sense;  no  two  persons  are  ever  equal  in  attainment; 
uniformity  is  not  the  essence  of  Americanism;  e  pluribus  unum 
(one  from  many)  and  the  converse,  many  from  one  (ideal),*  will 
help  teachers  to  see  education  in  a  truer  light. 

Challenge — any  body  of  materials  or  principles  presented  as  a 
basis  of  study  for  a  class  group;  substituted  for  lesson,  project, 
problem,  topic  methods;  time,  indeterminate  {i.  e.,  it  may  be  a 
day's  work,  two  or  three  days'  work,  a  week  or  six  weeks  or 
even  longer);  in  it  no  upper  limit  is  set  for  any  pupil  at  any 
time;  the  circle  is  described  big  enough  to  give  profitable  work 
for  every  one;  principles  (organizing  ideas)  are  common  elements 
of  unity — exercises  (indeterminate  but  definite)  furnish  a  basis 
for  recognizing  individual  differences.     See  Chap.  I. 

Co-operative  learning — any  form  of  self-teaching  or  partner- 
ship and  group  activities  developed  by  the  teacher  in  guiding 

*  Plures  ex  urw. 
367 


368  DEFINITION  AND   USE   OF  TERMS 

pupils  in  their  work;  an  application  of  the  social  principle  in 
classroom  procedure;  a  whole  class  may  work  in  partnerships 
(two  in  each)  or  in  groups  with  a  leader,  one  pupil  hearing  another 
recite,  or  one  acting  as  chairman  in  a  group,  or  two  or  more  work- 
ing forward  under  productive  conversational  practices;  a  means 
of  curing  some  pupils  of  work-shyness  produced  by  a  lesion  of 
social  sense;  in  such  procedures  teachers  become  directors  of 
action,  consulting  experts,  and  general  managers. 

Corporate  spirit — opposed  to  group  mediocrity  and  uniformity 
and  regimentation  of  all  kinds;  some  highest  common  multiple 
is  sought  in  which  to  express  a  community  of  interests;  up  out 
of  individual  activity  (each  on  his  mark)  toward  consensus  and 
unity  is  the  direction  of  a  responsible  freedom;  under  the  chal- 
lenge each  strives  for  self-mastery  in  his  own  best  way — the 
movement  is  toward  co-operations  out  of  directed  self-activity; 
the  pupil,  not  the  class,  is  the  educative  unit ;  the  ideal  of  organi- 
zation (the  majesty  of  plan  and  precision)  is  regarded,  not  as  an 
end,  but  a  means  in  the  development  of  a  self-active,  responsible 
person. 

Creativeness — a  purposeful  activity  in  which  raw  materials 
from  brute  facts  to  pigments,  from  passions  to  ideals  are  being 
fashioned  toward  some  goal — not  for  the  "sake  of  the  loaves 
and  fishes";  building  a  tangible  project — cabinet,  cake,  picture, 
blue  print — fabricating  a  story,  constructing  a  chapter,  working 
out  a  problem  in  history  or  what  not — in  short,  using  materials 
of  any  sort  in  the  realization  of  some  worthy  purpose  or  ideal 
suggests  creativeness;  teachers  cannot  rely  on  old  movie  films 
stored  up  in  the  rag-bag  of  memory — a  new  movie  film  must  be 
created  in  a  free  reconstruction  of  the  past  at  the  fork  of  the  road. 

Determinism — any  philosophy  or  practice  that  hinders  a  free 
and  continuous  revaluation  of  persons;  a  belief  that  man  by 
original  nature  is  doomed.  The  branding  of  children  as  incom- 
petent, "no  good,"  tends  to  cut  the  nerve  of  eflFort-making 
capacity;  initiative  drops  out  of  sight. 

Education — interpreted  as  a  process  of  creativeness  in  which 
we  make  the  individual,  in  which  we  seek  to  build  a  mind  tolerant, 
fearlessly  honest,  expectant  of  change,  inventive,  alert,  and  re- 
sourceful. 

Educative  unit — instead  of  the  class,  the  pupil  in  any  group  is 
the  educative  imit;  individual  achievement  is  focal;  materials  of 


DEFINITION  AND   USE   OF  TERMS  369 

instruction  are  to  be  gripped  in  challenges  in  which  there  is  pro- 
vision for  both  free  individual  energizing  and  co-operations. 

Fork-of-the-road  education — vital  education  (not  training)  be- 
gins at  the  point  of  crisis;  new  situations  call  for  creative  think- 
ing; exact  copies  are  not  used  at  the  point  of  difficulty;  playing 
the  game  (chess  or  football)  illustrates  action  at  the  fork  of  the 
road:  the  new  set  of  circumstances  and  combinations  must  be 
met  by  creating  a  new  movie  film  at  the  point  of  deciding  what 
to  do  next  in  this  situation — a  situation  which  never  occurred  on 
land  or  sea.  The  past  (experience,  history,  knowledge,  facts) 
as  well  as  temperament,  sentiments,  passions,  beliefs,  ideas — 
all  experience  up  to  this  crisis  (new  situation)  is  the  raw  material 
up)on  which  intelligence  works  to  furnish  the  will  a  point  of  de- 
parture from  which  to  embark. 

Heredity — a  distinction  between  physiological  heredity  and 
social  heredity;  arguments  in  the  former  may  not  apply  in  lat- 
ter; educative  process  is  concerned  essentially  with  transmission 
of  evolutionary  products;  man's  powers  are  born  out  of  the 
loins  of  humanity;  humanity  is  an  organism  including  language 
customs,  beliefs,  technics,  institutions,  every  aspect  of  the  so- 
cial organization — civilization  in  brief;  for  the  teacher  every  man 
is  born  wholly  uncivilized,  susceptible  of  becoming  a  savage, 
a  fifth-century  mind,  or  a  twentieth-century  mind;  endless  vari- 
ation ought  to  be  expected;  it  is  not  the  task  of  education  to 
produce  uniformity. 

Heredity  and  classification — two  theories:  (i)  disclose  levels  of 
native  mentality  (educability  or  basic  intelligence) ,  find  out  what 
the  individual  is  good  for,  educate  him  accordingly,  work  out 
groupings  for  homogeneous  ability;  (2)  dwell  on  social  heredity 
and  keep  opportunity  open  and  free  and  refuse  to  seek  uniformity 
or  mediocrity  on  any  level.  An  analogy:  automohility — Fords 
to  Packards  all  use  the  common  highway;  separate  roads  are 
not  constructed  for  different  makes  of  cars;  the  Ford  runs  under 
its  own  power  and  may  pxill  the  Packard  out  of  the  ditch  or 
arrive  ahead;  futile  to  say  one  is  more  useful  than  the  other — 
neither  is  endowed  with  a  heaven-born  function.  Again,  the 
outer  wheels  are  accelerated  in  turning  the  corners;  they  are 
not  removed  and  given  a  separate  classification.  The  dif- 
ferential takes  care  of  different  speeds. 

Our  leaders  are  made  in  the  stream  of  life.    Our  leadership  is 


370  DEFINITION  AND  USE  OF  TERMS 

an  emerging  quality.  Another  figure  may  serve  to  illuminate 
the  educative  process.  A  complete  circle  can  be  produced  by  a 
radius  of  any  length  by  finding  a  centre  of  constancy  for  one  end 
of  it  and  freedom  in  work  for  the  other.  The  radius  of  any  indi- 
vidual is  not  heaven-born;  it  is  never  a  constant.  What  we 
need  to  do  is  to  have  complete  circles  whether  the  radius  be 
long  or  short,  and  to  refuse  to  accept  any  fatalistic  postulates 
about  its  potential  length  in  any  individual  in  the  making. 
The  big  circle  need  not  be  scandalized  by  the  presence  of  the 
smaller  circle  meshing  into  it ;  the  smaller  circle  need  not  be  hu- 
miliated by  engagement  with  the  larger.  A  small  boy  rose  to  it 
as  if  to  the  manner  born  by  saying  that  the  small  wheel  is  often 
the  most  important  part  of  the  machine.  So  much  by  way  of 
suggestion  in  the  emphasis  laid  on  social  heredity  in  our  educa- 
tional task. 

The  practical  suggestion  to  teachers  is  to  expect  variation  in 
capacity  and  achievement  in  every  class  and  provide  for  differ- 
entials within  the  common  challenge. 

Indeterminate  assignment — a  working  idea  or  principle  (desig- 
nated challenge)  is  set  forth  as  a  centre  of  action;  within  the  cir- 
cle described  there  is  room  for  an  infinite  variety  of  patterns; 
the  pupil,  working  forward  in  the  challenge,  under  his  own  power, 
does  not  finish  any  challenge;  no  upper  limit  in  materials  is  set; 
in  fact,  the  principle  is  also  indeterminate;  it  is  a  way  of  thinking; 
the  facts,  the  exercises,  problems,  etc.,  within  a  challenge  are 
never  fully  exhausted;  room  is  provided  for  superior  profitable 
production  beyond  mastery.  It  is  not  known  just  how  many 
sentences  one  needs  to  work  out  on  the  relative  pronoun  to  over- 
take the  relative-pronoun  idea;  the  pupil  of  high  power  goes  on 
and  on  in  the  materials  (exercises  from  many  books  and  sources) 
up  into  exceedingly  difficult  relative-pronoun  sentences.  To  the 
teacher:  grip  the  relative-pronoun  idea  as  a  working  principle 
and  then  provide  abundant  raw  material  to  work  on — enough  to 
give  the  most  capable  pupil  aU  he  can  do  in  a  real  challenge. 

Inhibitions — or  defense  reactions — any  self-created  or  super- 
imposed obstacles  hindering  free  self-expression;  fear,  repressive 
measures,  lack  of  understanding  of  studies,  lock-step  methods 
tend  to  build  up  inhibitions;  working  for  mastery  and  creative 
thinking  in  a  directed-study  procedure  releases  energy. 

Mastery — cure  for  half-learning  and  a  corrective  in  giving 
marks  indicating  incapacity;  a  relative  mastery  in  the  last  analy- 


DEFINITION   AND   USE   OF   TERMS  371 

sis.  After  working  into  a  challenge,  extending  some  five  or  six 
weeks,  set  out  blocks  of  material,  as  many  as  there  are  pass  marks, 
and  require  a  mark  of  excellent  in  each  block  in  testing  for  mas- 
tery; e.  g.,  block  one,  containing  the  essential  principles  in  the 
challenge  and  enough  exercises  (material)  for  mastery  and  ap- 
preciation of  the  principles  constitutes  basis  for  lowest  (of  three, 
say)  pass  marks,  and  the  student  must  make  excellent  in  this 
material  to  earn  lowest  pass  mark;  block  two  contains  all  of  one 
and  additional  exercises  or  work;  to  make  the  next  higher  mark 
the  student  must  make  excellent  in  block  two,  etc.  Until  this 
is  done  a  mark  of  N.  M.  (No  mastery)  is  used  to  designate  the 
status  of  pupil  in  particular  challenges.  Mastery  is  not  abso- 
lute; there  is  a  progressive  mastery  as  higher  stages  in  the  sub- 
ject are  reached.  A  principle  may  not  be  comprehended  until 
seen  in  subsequent  relations  or  in  a  difficult  exercise  used  to 
clarify  one's  intellectual  method. 

Minimum  essentials — the  emphasis  is  shifted  from  content 
{i.  e.,  pages  and  quantity  of  subject-matter)  to  principles — or- 
ganizing ideas. 

Organizing  principles — core  ideas,  hypotheses,  ways  of  think- 
ing; the  discipline  of  principles  is  substituted  for  the  discipline  of 
facts;  a  way  of  thinking  is  conceived,  and  data,  facts,  informa- 
tion are  used  in  thinking  the  principle;  e.  g.,  factoring  in  mathe- 
matics is  a  way  of  thinking — it  is  the  factoring  idea  that  must 
be  gripped;  exercises  are  the  raw  materials  used  in  building  up 
the  idea;  or  case  in  grammar  is  an  organizing  principle — it  is  the 
case  idea  or  case  consciousness  ;  exercises  are  so  much  raw  material 
to  be  used  in  building  the  concept  of  case;  the  building  materials 
should  be  indeterminate  in  amount  so  that  no  upper  limit  is 
reached  by  any  member  of  the  class. 

Problem — see  challenge;  the  challenge  is  the  more  inclusive 
term ;  a  body  of  material  such  as  words  for  spelling  in  a  competi- 
tive performance  may  be  a  real  challenge  in  which  the  game 
furnishes  the  motive;  the  problem  is  a  higher  type  of  motiva- 
tion; in  it  there  is  purposeful  pursuit  in  the  attainment  of  objec- 
tives embodying  creative  thinking ;  what  is  done  at  any  stage  in 
a  real  problem  procedure  is  checked  up  against  some  hypothesis 
in  the  light  of  facts  used  in  the  realization  of  the  goal  set  up  as 
an  end.  Without  a  problem  there  is  no  (creative)  thinking  means 
that  when  smooth  running  action  is  checked  a  choice  must  be 
made  in  terms  of  new  factors.     The  building  of  minds  capable  of 


372  DEFINITION  AND   USE   OF  TERMS 

analyzing  problems  in  the  light  of  facts  is  the  high  aim  of  edu- 
cation. 

Reconstruction  of  experience — in  a  world  of  changes  the  next 
step  is  always  at  the  fork  of  the  road;  the  next  step  is  never  a 
copy  of  a  preceding  step;  past  experience  (history,  knowledge, 
facts,  beliefs,  sentiments)  is  the  raw  material  which  intelligence 
works  on  to  furnish  the  will  a  way  of  acting  in  the  next  move 
ahead;  this  next  step  is  a  creative  synthesis;  it  requires  the  moral 
hazard;  it  is  the  basis  of  artistic  effort;  the  next  move  in  a  human 
situation  calls  for  a  free  reconstruction  of  experience  (information, 
scholarship,  methods — all  of  one's  past). 

Scientific  humanism — a  recognition  that  fixed  laws  are  applica- 
ble to  inanimate  forces  in  the  popular  quantitative  sense;  a 
formula  or  scientific  principle  in  a  human  situation  opens  the 
way  to  a  consideration  of  new  phases  of  life;  a  human  being  is 
of  too  multiple  warp  and  woof  to  be  comprehended  within  defini- 
tions and  formulas.  The  physician  analyzes,  diagnoses,  studies 
the  7)atient  and  prescribes  treatment;  if  the  patient  does  not 
respond,  he  carries  analysis  and  diagnosis  further  and  changes 
the  treatment.  The  scientific  principle  calls  for  a  high  order  of 
skill  and  creative  thinking;  it  does  not  simplify  the  human  situa- 
tion to  introduce  science  in  this  sense. 

Scientific  method — the  experimental  scientist  is  concerned  with 
setting  the  thing  in  this  and  that  control  or  set  of  circumstances 
to  see  what  happens;  he  is  concerned  with  change,  not  with  what 
is  originally  given;  he  studies  processes  in  terms  of  what  happens 
when  the  thing  is  placed  under  new  conditions.  The  method 
includes  a  way  of  thinking,  an  hypothesis  (often  arising  in 
challenging  an  established  law  or  custom),  an  examination  of  the 
facts,  an  experimental  control  of  the  thing  in  hand,  a  study  of 
the  thing  under  this  and  that  control,  a  redefining  of  hypotheses 
in  the  light  of  the  facts,  and  a  tentative  conclusion  based  upon 
the  experiment.  Where  there  is  opportunity  to  experiment 
there  is  hope  to  improve.  The  experimental  scientist  is  not 
seeking  a  "resting  place,"  a  finality;  his  is  a  world  of  changes — 
never  a  world  of  absolutes;  he  is  not  looking  for  copies  to  be  re- 
produced; his  work  is  a  creative  synthesis  at  every  turn  in  the 
road.  The  artist  and  the  sculptor,  as  well  as  the  physicist  and 
the  chemist,  employ  the  scientific  method. 


INDEX 


Adamson,  J.,  on  instillation,  2. 

Alexander,  T.,  Prussian  Schools, 
270. 

Algebra,  conducting  class  in,  145- 
149. 

Alternate  leaderships,  meaning  of, 
77,  367;  appreciated  among  pu- 
pils, 158;  recognition  and  appre- 
ciation of,  260-262. 

Americanism,  a  social  theory  of 
life,  367. 

Arithmetic,  illustrating  procedure 
in,  12-13;  popular  psychology  of, 
23;  ratings  in  tests,  171. 

Assignment,  illustrated  in  mathe- 
matics, 15-25;  indeterminate 
character  of,  144-172;  set-lesson, 
179. 

Attention,  concerted,  16;  fallacy 
of  paying,  20. 

Attitude,  accepting  a  closed  or  open 
world,  9;  of  teacher  toward  pu- 
pil>  75~77;  of  pupil  toward  work, 
78-80;  of  educator  on  human 
evolution,  283-284;  of  teacher  in 
use  of  science,  31 1-3 12. 

Authority,  mechanical  exercise  of, 
273-276. 

Bagley,  W.  C,  determinism,  307. 

Bible,  an  experiment  in  Bible  sto- 
ries, 160-163. 

Briffault,  R.,  opinions,  251;  on  so- 
cial heredity,  283—284. 

Britten,  on  curiosity,  57. 

Capacity,  classification  of,  20-21; 
no  basis  of  prophecy  of,  24;  com- 
parison of  college  seniors  and 
9th-grade  pupUs  in,  76;  pro- 
vision for  varying,  84;  many- 


sided  nature  of,  100;  measure- 
lessness  of,  217;  created  in  suc- 
cessful expression,  256-257. 

Challenge,  conceiving  work  in 
terms  of,  7-58;  definition  of,  144, 
367;  working  under  a  vital,  16&- 
171;  appeal  in  a  real,  173;  a  big 
realization  in,  201-202. 

Chance,  law  of,  105-109. 

Chores,  effect  of  piece-work,  201- 
202. 

Class  period,  need  of  longer,  65-67; 
effective  utilization  of,  72-75. 

Classification,  lack  of  uniformity 
in  any,  14-15;  limitations  of,  81— 
82;  effect  of  tags  in,  91 ;  unrelated 
to  learning  process,  102;  likeness 
not  desired  in,  2S6;  penchant 
for,  288-290;  "those-w^ho"  fal- 
lacy in,  293-295. 

Clutton-Brock,  A.,  on  genius,  285. 

Cooley,  C.  H.,  what  intelligence 
works  on,  153;  growth  under 
successful  exi>eriment,  256-257. 

Co-operative  Learning,  illustrated 
in  partnership  work,  14,  146;  in 
assisting  teacher,  19,  124-125; 
and  teaching,  200-201 ;  definition 
of,  367. 

Corporate  spirit,  provision  for,  35; 
sharing  activity,  190;  possibili- 
ties of  developing  the,  217-218; 
developed  through  alternate 
leaderships,  260-262;  definition 
of,  368. 

Creativeness,  setting  problems  for 
evocation  of,  6-12;  self-activity 
in  relation  to,  24;  in  imaginary 
advertising,  27-28;  in  bmlding 
sentence  ideas,  32;  manifested 
in  Bible  stories,  162;  illustrated 


373 


374 


INDEX 


in  ballad-writing,  187-188;  ques- 
tioning an  aid  to,  204;  as  pur- 
poseful activity,  368. 
Curiosity,  throttling  of,  57. 

Definition  and  use  of  terms,  367. 

Determinism,  thinking  in  closed 
worid,  9-1 1 ;  inborn  heredity, 
282-284;  survival  theories,  290, 
294;  proving  alibis,  301-302; 
effect  of,  340;  definition  of,  368. 

Devices,  overworking  of,  112. 

Dewey,  John,  on  thinking  at  the 
point  of  crisis,  2;  in  How  We 
Think,  90,  225;  on  the  experi- 
mental method,  31 1-3 12. 

Differentiation,  endless,  1 51-152; 
one-from-many,  231-232;  place- 
ment and,  296;  vs.  group  medi- 
ocrity, 303-305. 

Directing  study,  in  a  rural  school, 

327-333- 
Discussion,  basis  of,  16;  a  goal  end, 

211. 
Dramatization,  in  social  studies, 

10;  in  English  grammar,  30;  of 

Bible  stories,  163. 

Education,  defined,  see  Preface  and 
368. 

Educative  imit,  pupil,  not  the 
class,  81-85,  368. 

Enghsh,  directing  study  in,  36-49; 
use  of  film  in,  52-54;  experiment 
in,  154-159;  using  Bible  stories 
in,  160-163;  memorizing  in,  170; 
writing  ballads  in,  187. 

Environment,  control  of,  38;  set- 
ting up  situations  in  composi- 
tion, 47-48;  experiment  in  con- 
trolling, 120-129. 

Equahty,  need  of  reinterpretation, 
263-264. 

Experimental  attitude,  in  teaching, 
291-293. 

Failures,  in  relation  to  probability 
curve,  24;"  as  evidence  of  prog- 
ress, loi ;  in  relation  to  habit  for- 
mation,  103;  training  in,   175- 


176;  as  recorded  by  Flemer, 
20&-209. 

Farris,  E.,  on  instincts,  82. 

Fatalism,  John  can't  leaurn  it,  5; 
survival  of  fittest,  259;  reinforc- 
ing by  indiscriminate  use  of 
tests,  301. 

Fatigue,  confusion  about,  112-113. 

Flexner,  A.,  Model  School,  208- 
209. 

Fork-of-the-road  education,  369. 

Formalism,  deletion  of,  215-216; 
illustrated  in  five  formal  steps, 
223-228;  in  mechanics  of  meth- 
ods, 245. 

Formula,  purpose  in  educative 
process,  314-319. 

Freedom,  significance  of,  205—206; 
nature  of  real,  247-248;  relation 
of  opinions  to,  248^-251;  in  rela- 
tion to  rights  and  duties,  255- 
256;  distinguished  from  caprice, 
264-265;  in  work,  265-266;  and 
authority,  266,  267;  example  of 
complete  "freedom,"  271-272. 

French,  achievement  of  pupils  in, 
169-170;  pupil's  opportunity  to 
indulge  in  oral,  198. 

Genius,  the  development  of,  257; 
realized  by  effective  technic,  285; 
a  function  of  exercise,  291;  false 
analogy  from  stock-breeding, 
297. 

Geography,  a  suggestive  proce- 
dure, 27-29. 

Geometry,  a  demonstration  in,  15- 
25;  illustration  of  procedure  in, 
120-129. 

Grammar,  demonstration  in  teach- 
ing, 29-35. 

Guidance,  in  the  learning  process, 
50;  educational,  87-89. 

Habits  (of  work),  basis  of  directing 
study,  94-95;  Mead  on,  175;  of 
study,  344-346. 

Hall  and  Hall,  questioning,  203. 

Heredity,  "the  boy  moves,"  194- 
196;  origin  of  man's  p)owers,  254- 


INDEX 


375 


255;  growth  in  line  of  successful 
experiment,  256-258;  the  dete- 
riorate, 259;  success  a  function 
of  exercise,  281-284;  social  he- 
redity, 284;  "Haves  and  Have 
Nots,"  289;  man's  task,  295; 
physiological  and  social,  369; 
heredity  and  classification,  369. 

History,  suggesting  problems-pro- 
cedure in,  9-1 1 ;  co-operative 
learning  in,  151. 

Hudson,  J.  W.,  the  meaning  of 
America. 

Human  situations,  not  met  by 
formula,  193-197;  a  projected 
study  of,  251-255;  complexity 
of,  311. 

Ideals,  our  American,  262-264; 
effect  of  national,  268-271;  282- 
283. 

Imbeciles,  the  making  of,  176; 
functional  defectives,  343. 

Independence,  interpretation  of, 
125-126. 

Indeterminate  assignment,  a  work- 
ing idea,  370. 

Individual  differences,  provision 
for,  15;  teaching  to  meet  endless 
variety  of,  20;  revealed  in  work- 
ing group,  84;  120-129;  differen- 
tials to  meet,  144-172;  illus- 
trated in  Bible-story  work,  160- 
163;  in  terms  of  achievement, 
168-171;  in  rates  of  reading,  172; 
meaning  of  individuality,  322- 
327. 

Inhibitions,  removal  of,  7-58;  in- 
herent in  the  system,  177-179; 
as  defense  reactions,  370. 

Initiative,  making  provision  for, 
47-49;  modes  of  expressing,  126; 
directing  action  requires,  189- 
191;  failure  to  develop,  272-273; 
development  of,  277-280. 

Instillation,  the  traditional  process 
of^  1-2;  recurring  in  drill,  32. 

Instmcts,  nature  of  and  implica- 
tions, 81-82. 


Intelligence  tests,  relation  to  work, 
21 ;  limitations  of,  24;  complexity 
of  human  situation,  105-106; 
relation  of  other  factors  in,  153; 
unwise  use  of,  284;  prophecy  not 
essential  in  education,  298-301; 
danger  in  labels  derived  from, 
340-341;  productive  use  of,  342- 

344- 
Interaction,  teaching  and  learning 
integrated,  192. 

Jacks,  L.  P.,  alchemy  of  thought, 

206,  311. 
Judd,  C.  H.,  High  School  Subjects, 

96;  Teacher  Study,  113. 

Langdon-Davies,  J.,  militarism  in 
education,  275,  282. 

Latin,  pupil's  account  of  study  of, 
I39-J-I40;  a  vocabulary  built  by 
pupils,  159,  170. 

Learning  Process,  formulating  pro- 
cedure in  terms  of,  59;  nature  of, 
90-100;  illustrated  in  mastery  of 
visual  pattern,  96-100;  in  prac- 
tical world,  227-231. 

Leslie,  S.,  on  sportsmanship,  194. 

Lessons,  undirected  preparation 
of,  113-120;  preparation  of  by 
teachers  secondary,  153-154. 

MacMunn,  N.,  creating  interest, 
159;  partnership  teaching,  198- 
199. 

McMurry,  F.  M.,  see  Preface. 

Mastery,  provision  for  testing,  22; 
half-learning  and,  337-340;  defi- 
nition of,  370. 

Mead,  C.  D.,  on  Habits  of  Work, 

175- 

"Methods,"  futility  of,  180;  for- 
mal, 184-185;  as  such,  inapplica- 
ble in  directing  study,  214;  in- 
adequacy of,  238-242. 

Minimum  essentials,  for  whom?, 
147-148;  of  principles.  Chap.  IV; 
become  maximum  necessities, 
193;  a  shift  from  content  to 
principles,  371 


INDEX 


Mirror-mindedness,  in  relation  to 
creative  thinking,  111-112;  and 
rote  learning,  114-116. 

Mistakes,  studied  in  learning  situa- 
tions, 101-113. 

Montessori,  on  watching  the  child 
with  a  problem,  3. 

Moore,  E.  C,  Education  as  World 
Building,  199-200;  on  scientific 
thinking,  207. 

Moral  analysis,  continues  in  new 
situations,  191;  requires  facing 
deeds  to  be  done,  237-244. 

Moving  picture,  demonstration  in 
use  of,  50-54;  value  of,  53. 

Nunn,  T.  P.,  life  patterns,  152. 

Obedience,  relation  to  initiative, 
277-280. 

Order,  keeping  class  in,  177;  self- 
defeating,  216;  by  authority, 
268-270;  made  administrative 
fetich,  273-275. 

Organizing  principles,  substituted 
for  the  discipline  of  facts,  371. 

Originality,  provision  for,  1-3;  il- 
lustrated in  use  of  slides,  52;  ex- 
pression of,  139-140. 

Participation,  preparing  teachers 
by,  36-45 ;  preparation  in  direct- 
ing study,  153-154. 

Passivity,  habits  of,  51. 

Paton,  S.,  on  standardization,  274, 
284. 

Pendleton,  on  procedure,  160. 

Philosophy  of  education,  impera- 
tive, 308-314. 

Plan,  intellectual  method  of  learn- 
er, 18-20;  of  thinking  illustrated 
in  science,  130-139;  of  thinking 
reported  by  pupils,  130,  139- 
142;  in  directing  study,  167-168; 
not  predetermined,  197. 

Plan-Book,  inadequate  in  direct- 
ing study,  1 89-19 1. 

Prediction,  see  Prophecy. 

Principles,  organizing  means  for 
Moity,  IS,  16;  clarification  of,  35; 


application  of,  85;  conception  of, 
144-145- 

Problem,  teaching  in  terms  of, 
Chap.  I;  possibilities  in,  206- 
208;  in  life  (practical)  situation, 
230-277;  basis  of  creative  think- 
ing, 349-350;  basis  for  studyina; 
the  book,  353;  a  higher  type  of 
motivation  toward  a  purposeful 
goal,  371. 

Projects,  in  relation  to  general 
method,  23;  in  chemistry,  140- 
142;  co-operative,  150;  culmi- 
nating, 164-167. 

Prophecy,  fails  in  directing  action, 
9-57;  in  relation  to  creativeness, 
121-141;  in  the  learning  process, 
97-113;  as  to  achievement,  169- 
171;  after  removing  inhibitions, 
187-189;  at  the  fork  of  the  road, 
236-245;  and  a  controlled  ex- 
periment, 251-255;  essential  in 
emergency  and  for  efficiency, 
298-300;  not  essential  in  scien- 
tific method,  31 1-3 12. 

Publicity,  of  results  in  English, 
156. 

Puzzle-stage,  failure  to  think  in, 
55-56;  glorified  bag  of  tricks  in, 
207-208. 

Questioning,  a  factor  of  control,  4; 
in  relation  problem-procedure, 
6-8;  in  front  of  answers,  203- 
204;  pupil  in  Prussian  system  de- 
nied, 268. 

Recitation,  futility  of,  72-74;  si- 
phoning vacuums  in,  103;  get- 
ting lessons  for,  113-119;  waste 
in,  129;  an  example  of  the,  175- 
176;  time  for  each  pupil  in,  198- 
199;  the  socialized,  200;  in 
Prussian  schools,  270. 

Reconstruction,  of  experience,  238- 
240;  place  of  intelligence  (his- 
tory) in,  313  ;definition  of  term, 
372. 

Regimentation,  danger  in,  22;  re- 
currence of,  293-295. 


INDEX 


377 


Responsibility,  assumption  of,  4; 
shifted  by  labelling  pupils,  aSgr- 
290;  popular  effect  of  tests  in  re- 
lation to,  301-302;  locating  and 
fixing,  34&-349- 

Results,  checking  and  measiuing, 
4,  33;  fallacy  in  marking,  107- 
112;  indicating  by  chart,  168. 

Richmond,  K.,  interpretation  of 
figures,  207. 

School,  description  of  the  new, 
232-234;  every  class  a  prospect- 
ing party,  234-235. 

Science,  guiding  pupils  in,  55; 
examining  methods  of  thinking 
in,  130-139;  work  of  pupil  in, 
140-142;  culminating  projects 
in,  164-167. 

Scientific  himianism,  example  of 
ph^idan,  319-322;  a  scientific 
pnnciple  in  a  human  situation, 
372- 

Scientific  method,  conditions  of, 
49;  illustrated  in  general  science, 
55 ;  the  way  of  the,  205;  need  of 
in  appraismg  human  behavior, 
287;  prediction  not  essential  in, 
290;  experimental  science,  311— 
312;  as  a  way  of  thinking,  372. 

Sdi-expression,  through  freedom  to 
work  in  controlled  environment, 
2;  7-36;  by  directing  pupils  at 

■  work,  120-128;  by  releasing  po- 
tentiaJity,  186-188;  removing  by 
inhibitions,  198-200;  in  con- 
servative activities,  333-336. 

Self-fulfilment,  a  new  doctrine, 
259-260;  effected  by  changing 
circumstances,  290-291. 

Social  principle,  operating  hap- 
^  hazardly,   117-120;  view-point, 

219-221;  and  curriculimi,  220. 

Sportsmanship,  game  calls  for, 
193-194. 

Study,  uirecting  at  the  fork  of  the 
road,  17;  nature  of  home,  31,  81; 
guidance  in,  55;  supervising  in 
out-of-dass    situations,    60^4; 


illustrated  in  mathematics,  120- 
129. 
Success,  accounted  for,  281;  a  con- 
trolled experiment  in  realizing, 

315.  . 
Suggestive    helps   and    problems 

for  teachers,  353. 
Supervisor,  seeing  partially,  104. 
Suzzallo,  H.,  alternate  leaderships, 

261. 
Swift,  E.  J.,  Learning  and  Doing, 

113;  Mind  in  Making,  277. 

Teacher,  as  director  of  activity, 
1 21-125;  ^^  consulting  expert, 
198;  in  a  redirected  college  class, 
210. 

Teacher  study,  a  means  of  improv- 
ing teaching,  92-113. 

Temptations,  prescribed,  220;  to 
excellence,  306-307. 

Tests,  in  relation  to  learning  proc- 
esses, iio-iii;  limitations  of 
standardized,  105-106;  environ- 
ment in  relation  tOj  251-253; 
changes  in  persons  m  relation 
to,  296;  value  of,  299. 

Thinking,  rationalizing,  2^,  286; 
directing  study  for  creative,  17, 
31-32,  34,  121-142,  186-189; 
revery,  182;  social  heredity  in 
relation  to,  284;  a  fimction  of 
habit,  344-346. 

Thomdike,  E.  L.,  on  reasoning, 
123;  on  initiative,  etc.,  125-126. 

Tolstoi,  on  freedom,  271. 

Uniformity,  not  essential,  144; 
regimental,  223-225;  the  indi- 
vidual and,  336-340. 

Verbalisms,  empty,  183-185. 

Woellner,  F.  P.,  on  the  recitation, 
179. 

Work-Spirit,  developing  the,  25; 
directing  pupils  at  work,  120- 
129;  results  of,  168-171;  con- 
verting class  to,  189-190. 


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